Light of the Sun and Stars
by thDorkMagnet
Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The fire blazed with an uncontrolled fury, as wood and cement alike crackled and disintegrated under the intense pressure of the blaze. The little house, once cozy and kept, now fell to ruin as flames consumed every part of the country home. Above the scene of destruction, a lone moon shone in the night sky, watching over the scene as a large pillar of smoke rose up from the flames to greet it and the rest of its bright shining companions. The flames in the house grew and grew, spreading through the once peaceful house, bathing all inside in its hot breath of destruction that wasted no time in devouring its prey. Finally, with a mighty crack the house gave in to the fires uncontainable will and collapsed in on itself, allowing itself to be consumed by the flames.

…

Farther from the blaze, a lone monster walked alone, his back to the smoke and ashes that were slowly rising up into the night sky, with no signs of stopping. The monster in question was a tall, muscular frog. Buff Frog, as many had become accustomed to calling him, wore a green military like top with a skull belt wrapped tightly around his waste, the muscles that made up his name sake visible underneath his shirt. His normally green body was, at the moment, covered head to toe in soot making his features difficult to make out in the darkness of the night. He panted heavily his eyes darting around constantly as he walked, every little noise making him jump.

The reason for his paranoia seemed to be the small bundle he held securely in his beefed up arms, wrapped up tightly in a soft, red blanket. Despite the muscles that coated every inch of the monster's body, he held the bundle gently, letting it rest safely against his chest. As he slowly pushed on through the forest, fighting branches and bushes alike out of his way, he was extra careful not to let the cloth covered object get hit with any stray branches as he battled his way through the unforgiving vegetation.

Eventually, the frog monster found the path of resistance lightening its hold as, with one more mighty push, he became freed from the forest's entrapment now standing in the middle of a silent clearing. He took a moment to catch his breath, checking over the bundle in his arms for any damages. Unlike the monster, the bundle was free from any soot or ash, the cloth clean and fresh in the monster's arms. As carefully as he could, he turned it over until a face could be made, peeking through the swaddling cloth. It was a boy, not even a year old, his tanned face peaceful as he slept. Small, tufts of brown hair rested on his forehead, his normally brown eyes closed tightly. A small mole was just under his left eye, but that was easily overshadowed by the twin suns on both cheeks, which even now glowed bright red in the darkness of the night. The cloth slowly rose and fell with his breath as he slept, the child's mind at peace unaware of the disaster only a short distance away and how close he had come to being a part of it.

The monster smiled at the cute, little bundle of joy he held, a smile of both joy and sadness. "No worry, Marco," the monster said in a thick Russian accent. "I will keep you safe. You will live normal life with other Mewmans. This is promise." The baby moved a little, snuggling closer to the monster, seeking his warmth and the frog smiled, pulling the blanket a little tighter around the baby.

Suddenly, the baby became uncomfortable, squirming around in his grip, no longer content in his dream-like state. Buff Frog was confused for a moment, trying to shush the squirming child, until he heard the snap of a branch behind him. Buff Frog turned, already on guard, holding Marco as close to him as possible. He squinted trying to see the source of the sound, until another monster emerged from the shadows. This one was a tall, lizard-like creature dressed in a finely made suit, one you would expect a business man or lawyer to wear. But this monster was neither.

Toffee, in fact, was the newest leader of the monsters and Buff Frog's boss, taking over after the old leader had passed away under "mysterious circumstances". Very little was known about Toffee, due to his often distraught nature, showing very little emotion towards anything. Very few monsters were even sure how he had gotten his position, most of it hidden in rumors and secrets. But none the less, Toffee had assured the monsters that he would bring them into a new age of freedom and help them gain justice from the Mewmans who had stolen their land. And, so far, he had yet to go back on his word, keeping true to all his promises. In no time at all, Toffee had already begun making major changes in the monster's poor living conditions, providing his fellow monsters with food and essentials that many of them had gone without all their lives, building confidence and hope in their new leader and his intense methods.

But for all the good things Toffee had done for his fellow monsters, an equal number of bad were being inflicted on the Mewmans. With Toffee in power, no Mewman was safe. Monsters, who had once been submissive and domicile, were now openly attacking them, killing any group who wandered too far from the safety of the Butterfly Kingdom and into their land. And Toffee not only encouraged it but demanded that they act out more, to take back their land from the "monsters" who had stolen it in the first place. The attacks, for the moment, were random and not very common place, just the monsters defending what they knew was theirs. But there was no doubt the relations between the Mewnians and the monsters were about to take a turn for the worse, as Toffee continued to poison his monster's minds with hatred. And the monsters, tired of oppression and seeking prosperity, seemed to be buying his lies, as their contempt grew every day and acts of violence became more and more frequent.

Buff Frog, a trusted and well-known member of the monster's society, however, openly defied Toffee's plans coming to the defense of the Mewmans, claiming them to be capable of understanding and change. His words mostly fell on deaf ears, but a few monsters were getting confused at the frog's statements, still unsure what the right solution was.

And so here the two were face to face with what they considered their equivalent rival. Buff Frog stared open daggers at the lizard, while the more controlled Toffee, only gave him a look of passive indifference, a look he seemed to have mastered.

"Buff Frog fancy seeing you here this late at night. I hope you weren't planning on running off on me, now were you?" he said, his voice as emotionless as his face. Buff Frog felt his anger boil at the mere sight of the lizard, but he tried desperately to keep it in check, hoping to find a way out of this situation with the least amount of trouble.

"Toffee," Buff Frog greeted, but the anger and suspicion in his tone was as obvious as his accent and Toffee gave the slightest hint of a smile, enjoying watching Buff Frog's armor break. "What are you doing here?"

` "I saw the smoke and came to see what I could do to help," Toffee reasoned, gesturing to the smoke that still rose up from the distance. Buff Frog followed his gesture, but only gave him a glare in return, not believing a word the monster was saying.

"Really, you come to help," Buff Frog asked accusingly, but Toffee showed no emotion over the frog's cold demeanor simply replying, "Yes of course, but it seems I was too late. A nasty fire broke out and completely destroyed the home I'm afraid, killing everyone inside. But it seems you were more successful than I," he continued, his eyes coming to a stop at the still-kicking baby, his face morphing into one of dark hatred for a second, before immediately shifting back to the blank expression he normally wore. .

"Yes," Buff Frog began, the suspicion never leaving his tone, keeping a secure grip on the struggling Mewman child, who was quite uncomfortable with Toffee's lingering gaze on him. "I see fire and manage to pull baby out before it harmed."

"Curious, cause it seems that the boy has not a burn anywhere on him, nor any soot or ashes unlike yourself. It seems almost as if he was pulled out before the fire. But then, that would make no sense." Buff Frog's eyes narrowed at the comment. Toffee and he held a glare between each other for a moment, before Toffee suddenly shrugged the subject off like it was nothing. "No matter," he said, reaching out a hand to Buff Frog, making Marco scream even more. "Give me the boy so that I may... handle the situation."

"Handle?" Buff Frog spat, unable to contain his hatred anymore. "You will kill boy."

"I will do what's necessary," Toffee replied, his voice suddenly becoming hard. "You know what our goal is, Buff Frog. You know what must be done."

"He is innocent child-"

"It is a _Mewman_ ," Toffee hissed, anger in his tone for the first time since the conversation started. Buff Frog jumped at Toffee's sudden rage, Marco's body shuddering against him. "There are no innocent Mewmans."

Buff Frog stared at Toffee silently, his eyes dark with hatred as he softly whispered, "Perhaps then you would like to explain to other monsters why you kill Mewman baby. A baby under the name Diaz no less."

Toffee's seemed visibly unsettled at the mention of the name, trying his best to remain expressionless. All monsters knew the weight the name carried. The Diaz's had dedicated their lives to peace amongst the monsters and had become a symbol of harmony between the two races. No monster would dare to indicate harm against any under that name, their family alone free from the monster's revenge, including Toffee's. Toffee considered his options. He had only recently become leader of the monsters and his lack of experience was beginning to show. Though the monsters followed him, they still seemed weary to give him their full support. He didn't have the same level of trust Buff Frog held amongst the monsters and if he was going to make any progress he needed Buff Frog. And things were even more shakey now than ever before, as recently a new threat to his position arose when that pipe-squeak Ludo had began wrangling his own group of monsters from under Toffee's nose, attempting to claim himself as leader. Though he doubted it would go anywhere, Ludo's name was well-known amongst the monsters and he needed Buff Frog's own influence to keep them under control. Moreso, Toffee's more violent methods were beginning to be off-putting to the other monsters, none having the stomach for the more radical approach to "freedom fighting". His want to eradicate as many Mewmans as possible, putting many on shaky footing. Though they wanted change they weren't quite ready to start a war against the Mewmans. They were all new to killing, none really sure if his approach was a good one. If word got out that Toffee had killed a defenseless child, even a Mewman, it could be the end of all he had accomplished. As much as he hated Buff Frog, he had no choice but to comply.

Buff Frog knew he had won, as Toffee's face slipped back into its indifference once again, all anger and venom gone from the monster's features, his hands behind his back. "Very well," Toffee said his voice showing just the slightest hint of anger beneath it. "You may keep the child. But you both now belong to me. You will remain by my side and do exactly as I ask."

"No! I must raise Marco away from monsters-"

"If you wish for the boy to live, you will not question my decision. He will abide by my rules and remain so until I see fit. Do we have an understanding?"

Buff Frog felt his anger growing, his grip tightening on Marco just slightly. He and Toffee shared a gaze, one that seemed to last a lifetime, both hard and cold, both waiting for the other to yield. The only sound in the forest was the moans and grunts of the restless boy in the frog's arms. Finally, Buff Frog looked away, barely whispering "Yes, is deal," before drifting off into a guilty silence. He knew he had already broken his promise, but there was no way he could fight Toffee and still keep Marco alive. Toffee had bested him after all, he had lost.

"Good. Make sure to hurry home. It's not good for a child to be out this late at night. Who knows what could happen to him," Toffee said, his voice just dripping with arrogance, before he turned on his heels and walked off, disappearing into the shadows from whence he came. As he did, Marco calmed down, managing to drift off to sleep once again.

Buff Frog stared at the child for a moment, feeling guilty, as he watched the boy slowly fall back into his peaceful sleep, unaware of any wrong in the world around him. Buff Frog felt a tear in his eye as he softly whispered, "I'm sorry." Behind him the smoke continued to rise, like a signal in the night, alerting all of the disaster that had just occurred.

 **A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to my new Star story. As you may have guessed it's gonna be pretty alternate universe but I will be using elements from the show, like a good fanfic writer should. I hope you enjoyed and don't worry there will be more coming soon. I really have a lot planned for this one, but I needed to keep the first chapter short and sweet. I plan to update again in about two weeks or so and the next one will be a bit longer, so there's that. Until then, fill free to leave me a comment and enjoy our awesome Battle for Mewni movie event. I know I will! Love you all! Till next time!**


	2. The Price of Freedom

Chapter 1: The Price of Freedom

 **A/N: Hello again, everyone. I hope you all had a great two weeks! So here it is, the next chapter as promised and it is long, as promised. Thank you all so much for your love and support for my story, it really means the world to me. I was genuinely surprised by all the favorite, followers, and sheer number of views for a single chapter of one of my stories and there are no words to describe how much it means to me. But I'll try, I left responses to everyone's comments at the bottom. So I won't keep you any longer, here is the "first" chapter of my story. And also a disclaimer (cause I totally forgot it last time. Oops!)**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the Forces of Evil and all its characters are owned by Disney and its creator Daron Nefcy. All rights go to them.**

14 Years Later

The castle was quiet today. Beard Deer couldn't help but ponder this as he patrolled through the empty halls. It really shouldn't surprise him so much. After all, all the other monster's were out on a raid, probably killing Mewman scum who had wandered too close to monster territory again or perhaps pillaging a small village that had openly mocked the monster's growing strength, but regardless, most of the monsters weren't present in the castle today.

Only Toffee (who had given the monster's there mission before disappearing into his room), Lobster Claws, and Three Eyed Potato Baby were left, with Beard Deer and the latter two left in charge of protecting the castle and patrolling it regularly until the others' return. In fact, the only other living creature in the castle was...

Beard Deer stopped suddenly realizing the reason for his concern. There was one living creature whose normally enthusiastic presence had been unseen and unheard from for a while now. Beard Deer tried not to assume the worst but, his fear was slowly getting the better of him, as he quickly altered his course, practically racing to the room of the person in question.

He knocked on the small, wooden door, putting an ear to it, listening for a reply. But none came. "Marco," Beard Deer questioned, still not hearing a response. Finally, his concern got the better of him as he flung the door open, looking into the empty room with shock. He scanned the room for any signs of life to no avail, he was long gone.

Beard Deer gulped, before saying in a frightened voice, "Master Toffee is not gonna like this."

…

Lobster Claws and his friend, Potato Baby were currently "guarding" the castle gates, slumped over in their chairs, eyes closed, their snores matching each other in perfect synchronization. The two were in a deep, peaceful sleep, a sleep that nothing could possibly interrupt. That was until a certain monster stomped up to the two, anger flashing through his eyes, as he shouted, "Lobster Claws! Potato Baby!"

The two were startled out of their sleep, both screaming loudly, as Lobster Claws' claw struck out in pure instinct, catching his unfortunate friend right in the jaw. The two jumped quickly to their feet, standing at attention, the potato-like monster rubbing his now aching jaw softly. They both spotted Beard Deer, glaring at them in anger, and they shrank under his intense gaze.

"What do you two _idiots_ think you are doing?" Beard Deer grunted beneath clenched teeth.

Lobster Claws, doing his best to recover from the initial shock, saluted their superior officer saying, "Guarding castle gates like you requested, _sir_!"

"Oh really," Beard Deer said in barely restrained anger, crossing his arms. "And nothing ever got past you two while you were 'guarding'?" He did air-quotes on the last word and the two monster shared a look.

"Not that we're aware of, sir," Lobster Claws shouted, saluting again, his friend following his example.

"And your certain there was no other jobs I assigned to you two that you were _supposed_ to be doing?" Beard Deer asked slowly, his eyes narrowing with every syllable.

Now the two monster looked to one another for conformation, neither sure what job their commanding officer was talking about. They turned away from Beard Deer, whispering quietly amongst themselves.

"What other job was it we were supposed to be doing?" Lobster Claws whispered, Potato Baby replying with a short burst of what sounded to Beard Deer (and most of the monsters) like a series of unintelligible mumblings but in reality was just a strange language few could speak and even fewer could understand.

But Lobster Claws, being one of the few who could understand it, grunted in frustration, saying to his speech-challenged friend, "No we already did that."

Another rapid series of mumblings.

"Did that last week."

Mumblings, followed by, "Done."

Beard Deer tapped his foot impatiently, as the two continued their conversation, trying to follow it as best as he could considering he could only understand half of it.

The potato-like monster paused for a moment thinking, before mumbling something in a hesitant manner.

"I don't think he even asked us to do that. Wait, did you actually clean the toilets with my toothbrush?!"

Potato Baby shrugged, giving a garbled, "Mmm-mm."

Beard Deer finally face-palmed, shouting at the two, "You were supposed to watch Marco, you idiots!"

The two jumped, staring at the monster wide-eyed, until realization dawned on their slow-moving brains. "Oh yeah, right," Lobster Claws said, tapping a claw to his hard head. He turned to his companion. "So where is he?"

Potato Baby mumbled something, giving a shrug and Beard Deer turned to Lobster Claws to hear the response. "What do you mean, you don't know?! I thought you were watching him!"

"So let me get this straight," Beard Deer hissed, drawing the attention of the two once again, as he rubbed the sides of his forehead with his fingertips in frustration. "You left him alone, unguarded, for _hours_ , without any supervision. And now not only is he missing, but neither of you have any idea where he is, _whatsoever_?!"

"Technically, yes," Lobster Claws said, raising a knowing claw in the air. "But in our defense, you really should have known better to leave us with such an important job."

He playfully nudged his fellow monster, whose anger exploded as he growled in the crustacean's face, who gave a frightened squeak.

"If Toffee finds out that Marco's gone, he's gonna skin all of us, including Marco," Beard Deer screamed.

"Uhh, maybe we can find him?" Lobster Claws weakly suggested.

"We better cause if something happens to the kid, it'll be on you," Beard Deer said, pocking the lobster's hard shell in a threatening manner, forcing Lobster Claws to back away from the infuriated monster, as he and Potato Baby shared a guilty look, both clearly concerned for the boy's well-being. As strange as it seemed, all the monsters had developed a soft spot for Marco, (excluding Toffee, of course) treating him like one of their own. At first they had all thought Buff Frog was crazy, bringing home a Mewman boy one day and declaring he would raise it. The monsters had been very withdrawn towards the boy in the beginning, none quite knowing how to feel about their enemy living under the same roof with them, even if he did go by last name Diaz, but over time they had been able to look past Marco's Mewman background and see him for the kind, intelligent boy he was. And eventually, Marco managed to win all of them over and they excepted the boy into their ranks, much to Toffee's dismay. Now the monsters couldn't see him as anything else than Marco, his Mewman side easily overlooked amongst the close knit group of Toffee's most elite monsters.

Finally, Lobster Claws turned back to his fellow monster, saying in a reassuring voice, "Aww, come on boss, he's gotta be here somewhere. He never got past the gate so he's gotta still be in the castle. I mean, after all, where could he have gone anyways?"

…

Marco Diaz grunted with effort as he slowly inched his way across the tree branch he was currently suspended from, ignoring the rough bark as it scraped against his skin or the green leaves that continued to cling to his messy, brown hair. He stuck his tongue out, trying his best to keep a firm grip on the branch, the backpack strapped to his back weighing him down heavily, making hanging on rather difficult. Finally, he was able to reach out and grab onto another branch beside him, hauling himself onto it, safely. He rested for a moment catching his breath, as he wiped the sweat from his brow, looking up at the progress he had made so far. He had descended a few branches already, the window he had managed to reach the tree from just a few feet above him. But as he looked down he could see he still had quite a ways to go.

He sighed, removing his backpack from off his shoulders and dropping it to the earth below with a muted thud, before continuing his decent. He was very careful as he climbed, making sure not to put too much weight on any of the fragile branches and testing each new limb first, before fully descending on it. The going was slow, but eventually Marco reached the final branch, jumping off and landing easily on his feet.

As he went over to retrieve his backpack from the soft earth, he brushed the bothersome leaves from his hair, as he smoothed it back into the usual spiked style he enjoyed. Once his backpack was recovered, he looked himself over to make sure there were no more leaves clinging to the rest of him. He wore a simple gray t-shirt, black pants, and a pair of green sneakers, nothing showy or flashy, just the way he wanted it.

He nodded glad to see he was leaf-free as he turned his attention to the forest that now stretched before him. His brown eyes shined with wonder and excitement as they scanned the wilds of monster territory, a small smile gracing his lips as the twin suns on his cheeks, reacting to his excitement, spun a full circle before freezing in their usual position. He took a deep breath in, mumbling to himself, "Calm down, Marco. You got this." He got into a crouched position, letting the tension build within him before he took off as fast as he could, running off into the jungle beyond his home.

Marco panted, loving the rush of the air blowing past him and the fast beating of his heart, thrills he was always denied at home. Toffee often wanted Marco to remain confined to his room and out of the way, never allowing him to move around too much in case he got damaged. But Marco hated being kept still and in one place, enjoying pushing his body to its limits.

Marco felt a cool breeze wash over his face, as he continued at a hard and fast pace, brushing leaves and branches aside as he continued on into the depths of the jungle, unopposed. Eventually, he spotted a small mark in a tree just ahead. It was rough and faded, looking years old, but Marco found it immediately. He ran past it, quickly looking ahead for the next marking. He spotted it just a little ways away, this one was less faded than the last, and he altered his path just slightly so he could race past it as well. Soon, he came across another marking and then another, each in better condition than the last.

As he continued to push on through the harsh vegetation, Marco could feel his legs starting to cramp from overwork but he forced himself to continue moving, finding a strange pleasure in the pain. Eventually, Marco came to a stop in front one of the marked trees, this one's scrapes looking only a few days old. A thick wall of vegetation had grown around the tree and its neighbors, making it impossible for Marco to see what lay beyond the wall of vines and ivy. Marco panted heavily, bent over, hands on knees, as he tried to get a proper amount of air flow back into his oxygen-deprived lungs. He felt hot all over, his legs were sore, and he was now a little sweaty, but Marco didn't care, it was worth it. He caught his breath before rising to full height once again. He slowly approached the marked tree, eying it carefully, running a hand across the freshly cut bark. But Marco's smiling face turned to one of intense concentration, as he turned to the wall of vegetation once again, preparing himself to step into the unknown. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and stepping forward, pushing the wall out of the way, now on the other side of the vegetated curtain.

Marco stood frozen for a moment, his whole body on alert as he waited to be devoured or attacked by some creature. But as his body remained untouched he slowly peeked open a eye, seeing no dangerous, Mewman-eating predators, just a small, muddy swamp uninterrupted from the rest of the jungle's wilds. He let out a deep sigh, allowing his body to relax once again, as the smile returned to his face. "Yes!" he screamed with an elated cheer, pumping a fist into the air. "Farthest I've ever gotten! And still alive!" Marco puffed out his chest proudly.

He spotted a small crocodile thing a little ways off, watching him suspiciously with large, bulging eyes. Marco lay down in front of the reptile so they were now to equal level, holding up a hand. "High five!" he said, with a smile.

The crocodile didn't return his gesture however, simply going, "Bwwwaaa!" before turning around and wading out into the depths of the pond, getting a safe distance away from the unknown stranger. Marco watched the creature go in shock, hand still raised in greeting, before giving a shrug at the rejection and pulling himself into a more comfortable sitting position.

Once he was situated, he pulled the backpack off his shoulders and began digging around in it. The crocodile watched the intruder curiously. Finally, Marco found what he was looking for, pulling out a bright red apple. He held it out to the crocodile, who eyed it with hunger. "Here you go," Marco offered, leaning forward a little. The reptiles' eyes darted from Marco to the apple then back to Marco, before its hunger won out and it waded back to shore. Marco watched its approach eagerly, excited this creature had taken an interest in him. It stopped in front of the boy, and the two shared a look for a moment.

Suddenly, the crocodile lunged forward, and Marco barely had time to drop the apple and pull his hand away with a surprised squeak, before the crocodile's jaws snapped shut in the exact place his hand had been. Marco panted from the frightful experience, now watching the hungry reptile wearily. It easily swallowed the apple in one bite, now looking at Marco expectantly. For a moment, Marco was afraid all the dangers Toffee had warned him about were true and he was about to be devoured by this strange creature. But, to Marco's surprise the creature padded slowly over to him, before laying down at his side, his leathery head resting in Marco's lap.

Marco froze, surprised at the creature's friendliness, as waited for the monster to attack and snap at him again, but it didn't. It just lay in his lap, its eyes closed, its breathing soft and peaceful. Marco felt his body relaxing as he watched the resting gator, becoming mesmerized in its simple act of breathing. After a moment, he hesitantly brought a hand down and began to gently stroke the creature's head. He felt it tense up underneath his touch, but it didn't stop him, and so Marco continued, growing less and less weary with every stroke.

Though it's skin was very rough and scaly, Marco enjoyed petting the creature, a happy smile on his face, as looked out at the creature's muddy residence, finding something surprisingly beautiful about it.

"Y'know," Marco finally said, his voice a whispered awe, speaking to the reptile curled up in his lap. "Someday I'd like to see more things like this." The reptile said nothing, as Marco continued to pet it. "Someday, I'd like to see more of Mewni and experience things I've never experienced before. I'm hoping someday Toffee will let me go out with Buff Frog and the rest of the monsters on their 'missions' and see what it is they're always doing out there. I know he thinks I'll be in the way, but, who knows, maybe I can even help them." Marco looked down at the reptile. "What do you think?" The crocodile remained soundless and Marco let out a sigh. "Yeah, your right, I don't think he'd go for that either."

Marco settled back, enjoying the view in front of him in silence, taking it all in. "Maybe it is wrong for me to want to go, but I just... feel like there's more for me out there than being kept in some dark castle. I know there's more that I could do. I just- I just want to make a difference." Marco went quiet and his new friend eyed him carefully, taking in the look of uncertainty and sadness on the boy's face. It studied him for a moment before it followed the boy's example, looking back out at the small pond he called home.

"Bwwwaaa!" he croaked and Marco down looked at the creature fondly, giving it a quick pat.

"Thanks."

…

Marco quietly opened the window, peeking his head in, looking for any signs of life in the darkness, but all he was greeted with was an empty hallway. He let out a deep sigh, before slowly climbing in and closing the window behind him.

He sneaked quietly down the hallways, holding his backpack to his chest, afraid to alert anyone to his presence. Toffee had made it clear that Marco was supposed to remain in his room and out of the way until the others returned and Marco had no way of knowing if they were back yet or not, time having easily gotten away from him in the peace of the swamp, and though Marco had no way of knowing what punishment Toffee had in store for him, he really wished to never find out. He had rarely encountered Toffee, the lizard monster mostly keeping to himself, but Marco knew from the few experiences he had had that he was terrifying. For whatever reason beyond Marco's knowledge, Toffee extremely disliked him, a feeling the young boy wasn't use to having. Most of the monsters adored Marco, treating him well over the years, so to have not just any monster, but the boss himself hate him so much was quite strange to Marco and he usually went out of his way to stay out of Toffee's path, which didn't seem to bother the lizard any. So the last thing he wanted to do now was get caught out of his room.

The going was slow, every minute agonizing to the boy, but finally he reached his own hallway, the door to his room in sight. He smiled, letting out a silent cheer, reaching for the metal knob that would provide entrance into his room.

"Marco!" the voice called behind him and he flinched, his hand stopping just inches from the doorknob. He turned to see Beard Deer, Potato Baby, and Lobster Claws just a short distance away giving him looks ranging from worry to anger. Marco, in a panic, quickly put his hands behind his back, shielding the backpack from their prying eyes, giving the most innocent smile he could muster.

"Hey guys," Marco said with a small wave, hoping that the others' night vision hadn't picked up on the backpack yet. But the backpack was the last thing on any of the monsters' minds as they quickly surrounded the startled boy.

"Where have you been?" Beard Deer shouted, his voice an equal mixture of scolding and concern, grabbing Marco by his shoulders, his chiding glare digging in to his young charge. Marco shifted uncomfortably under the monster's gaze but tried to keep his face smiling.

"Oh you know... here and there," Marco said as casually as he could, waving a hand, halfheartedly, in gesture.

"Where?" Lobster Claws asked confused, rubbing the top of his head with his claw. "Cause we've searched the castle, like, a hundred times and never saw you."

"You must have just missed me," Marco replied in a questioning tone, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself then the others, his eyes darting uneasily between the monsters.

Beard Deer let go of the young Mewman and crossed his arms, staring down at him with a well-trained glare, while Three Eyed Potato Baby whispered something to his crustacean friend, who nodded in agreement. "I'm not lying," Marco said to the potato-like monster defensively, but his resistance weakened once again as the others gave him dead-panned stares, feeling guilt at lying to the creatures he considered family. "Well, I'm not," Marco said in soft tone, turning away from the others, unable to look any of them in the eyes, as their questioning stares continued to penetrate his quickly evaporating confidence.

"Marco, you know your supposed to stay in your room," Beard Deer scolded, no anger in his tone anymore, just genuine concern, and that hurt Marco far more than being yelled at any day.

Marco sighed, closing his eyes tight, "I know, I'm sorry," he muttered sadly. "I just hate staying in there all day. I got bored."

The others all felt their anger disintegrating at the sight of the disheartened young boy. They all looked at him with sympathy, feeling the need to comfort their young charge.

"Hey, it's okay, we understand," Beard Deer said softly, putting a hand on Marco's shoulder. "But you know the rules."

The boy nodded, head still down as a new question lingered in his mind. He looked up at the deer monster, staring him directly in the eyes.

"Your not gonna tell Toffee I snuck out, are you?" Marco asked, his eyes pleading.

Beard Deer hesitated. "Well..."

Marco felt panicked and quickly yelled, "No! You can't! He'll kill me if he finds out!"

"And us," Lobster Claws added, his voice panicked, claws to his head. Beard Deer said nothing, the look on his face telling Marco that he was still going to hold true to his word.

Marco clapped his hands together, looking at him with sad, puppy-dog eyes, begging the monsters in front of him to listen. "Please don't tell him, please, please, please."

From next to him, Lobster Claws also begged, mimicking Marco exactly, "Yeah, don't tell him, please, please, please." While on his other side, Three Eyed Potato Baby shook his enclosed hands, garbling unintelligent cries at their temporary leader.

Beard Deer looked around at the three in front of him and felt his resolve weakening, but tried to remain strong under their begging. "Fine. But we at least need to tell Buff Frog," he said in a voice that sounded less harsh then he intended. The others sighed, but Marco felt panic once again.

"No don't do that. He's gotta enough to worry about already. I don't want to make things harder for him," Marco was on the brink of tears and all of them shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, finding it increasingly hard to say no.

"But..." Lobster Claws started, but the look on Marco's face was too much for him and he went silent, hanging his head in shame.

"Now Marco," Beard Deer tried but the focused attention on him finally broke his resolve and he sighed in defeat. "All right, you win," he muttered, not daring to look the boy in the face.

"Thank you!" Marco cried in victory, his face immediately switching to his signature smile.

"But," Beard Deer interrupted the boy's celebration, bending down so they were now on the same level, wagging a finger in front of his face. "You have to promise not to do it again." Beard Deer gave him a serious stare and Marco could tell he needed to give him a calm, level-headed answer.

"I promise," he said, matching the stare with the monster in front of him. Beard Deer seemed satisfied with the answer and relaxed, raising back to his full height.

"Good," he said ruffling Marco's hair affectionately. Lobster Claws and Three Eyed Potato Baby waited a moment, letting the peaceful moment sink in, staring back and forth between the Mewman and the monster. Until Lobster Claws' stomach rumbled, breaking the moment and drawing everyone's attention to him.

He chuckled awkwardly, putting both claws to his rumbling stomach, before asking, "Since that is all settled can we please go get something to eat? I'm starving."

Marco chuckled and Beard Deer, raised his eyebrow at his friend. They all began heading off in the direction of the kitchen, Marco waving to the three monsters despite the fact they couldn't see him. Potato Baby mumbled something to the Lobster monster, who quickly replied, "Well I was busy looking for Marco, now wasn't I?!"

Marco sighed with relief, glad to know he hadn't really been caught. He opened the door stepping inside the dark room, backpack still held loosely in one hand. That was when he froze, mid-step, staring open-mouthed at the sight in front of him. Toffee stood in the middle of his room, with his back to the boy, but as the door opened he turned to Marco, with the same lack of expression he normally wore and Marco felt his heart stop. The two stood just staring at one another for what felt to Marco like an eternity, Marco frozen in fear, Toffee continuing to gaze at him blankly, until finally Toffee said in a calm voice, "Close the door, Marco."

Though Marco felt sick at the idea of being trapped alone with Toffee in this dark room, he obeyed the monster, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. Once the two were alone Toffee continued to stare the boy down, awaiting an explanation that Marco didn't have.

Marco shifted his weight from one foot to the other, feeling awkward under Toffee's intense gaze, his eyes coming to rest on the small golden ring on the middle finger of Toffee's left hand, the small green gem embedded in it glowing faintly, despite the lack of light in the room. Marco felt dizzy looking into the light of the crystal, his mind going blank for a moment, all thought coming to a screeching halt. The boy shook his head, freeing himself from the hypnotic glow of Toffee's ring before taking a step forward, saying, "Master Toffee I can explain-"

"No need," Toffee said, his voice a cold monotone. Marco froze once again, confused at the monster's lack of aggression, he knew the lizard had built up a reputation for never showing emotion, but this felt strange even for him. Marco had at least expected some anger after he had directly disobeyed his superior. But Toffee expression never changed as he continued. "It's obvious what's going on."

Marco felt his heart race once again, as Toffee stepped closer to him, bending down so he was now level with the young Mewman. "Your running away," he said calmly, sadness just barely creeping out of his voice.

Marco's eyes widened in terror as he quickly screamed, "What, no!" But Toffee gave him a glare, upset at the interruption and Marco went silent once again, shrinking under Toffee's gaze. The lizard sighed, rising to full height once again, taking a few steps away from the boy. He stopped, hands behind his back, his fingers, unknowingly playing with the small golden ring, flashing a sickly, green glow across the boy's guilt-ridden face. Toffee took a moment to think of the proper response, every second just adding to the tension of the room."After your parents died..." the monster began, making Marco flinch without the lizard's knowledge and he felt tears rising up in his eyes, trying his best to ignore the hurt, numbing feeling that weighed heavily on his chest at the mention of his parents. "I took you in when no one else wanted you. I gave you a home, kept you well-fed, provided you with every comfort you could possibly need, and sheltered you from all the dangerous of Mewni. And yet, you continue to be a disappointment."

He turned around, his eyes narrowing to slits as they came to rest on Marco once again. "If the others were to find out you were trying to leave us, it would break their hearts. Is that what you want Marco, to break our hearts?"

"No," Marco muttered weakly, feeling guilt and hurt flow through him like waves, keeping his eyes on anything but the lizard, who slowly stalked closer to him once again.

"But you still wish to continue with this stupid notion of leaving?" he said, now towering over the shaking form of the Mewman.

Marco shook his head, wiping the unshed tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry, Master Toffee, it won't happen again," Marco said, his voice tight and unsettled, as he did his best to keep his emotions in check.

There was a pause, the room becoming deathly silent, as Toffee just glared down the sniffling boy. Finally, the lizard's voice broke the silence of the room, his voice uncharacteristically hard. "No it won't." Before Marco could ponder what exactly Toffee meant, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his arm and he screamed, his whole body freezing up in shock. He slowly looked down at his aching arm with bleary, tear-filled eyes, noticing that his arm now had three small marks running perpendicular across it. Marco blinked back his tears as his frazzled brain finally came to the realization that they were, in fact, claw marks.

He put a shaking hand over the scar, unable to believe that Toffee had just struck him. His breathing was shallow and erratic as he tried to make sense of the pain that now coursed through his body. _He struck me_ , Marco thought, the words looping through his mind over and over again. _He actually_ _ **struck**_ _me_. He couldn't believe it, Toffee had often scolded him or spoke harshly to him in the past, but he had never raised so much as a claw against him before. Marco looked up at Toffee with hurt-filled eyes.

"Now don't give me that look, Marco," Toffee said, the smooth, coldness to his voice gone, a cruel hiss escaping through his calm facade. Marco shivered at the harshness of his voice, breaking eye contact with his superior, staring blankly at the floor. "You brought this on yourself, after all. "

Marco tried to process the lizard's words, as his scar throbbed beneath his grasp, his hand growing wet and sticky with his own blood. He swallowed back the lump in his throat as Toffee's words whispered softly in his head. Was he right? Had Marco done wrong? Had he really just broken one of the only rules given to him just so he could satisfy some bizarre curiosity he wasn't even sure why he had? Toffee was right, he did deserve to be punished. The other monsters would be ashamed if they knew the truth.

Marco's thoughts were silenced, however, as Toffee's claws connected with Marco's unguarded back. Marco let out a hurt grunt, clenching his teeth together to keep from crying out in pain. But the endurance was too much for his weak body to handle and he fell to his knees, panting. For a moment, Toffee just stared down at the boy in silence, as Marco tried his best to suffer through the unbearable pain that now coursed through his shaking body like fire. In Marco's weak, pain-filled mind he heard Toffee say, "When we do wrong we must be punished. And these scars are proof of your crimes."

Marco held back the sob that threatened to release itself, as guilt consumed the young Mewman, the hurt slowly gnawing away at his stomach far more painful than the scars. But Toffee merely picked up the backpack that had been left discarded on the floor, silently exiting the room. He opened the door, before turning back to the boy laying quietly on the floor. "Marco."

Marco turned to look at the lizard, his vision blurry with the tears he had yet to shed. "I'm doing this for your own good. We both know you'd never survive out in the real world." With that the door closed, leaving Marco alone with his thoughts. Marco finally released the tears he had been holding back, sobbing quietly on the floor, the pain becoming too much for him to bare.

…

The monsters return home was one of triumph, with the monsters once again bringing in another victory over the Mewmans, reclaiming another corner of their stolen land. And once again, Toffee was not present for their return, more interested in whatever plans he was making in his private study to join in on the celebration. But none of the monsters really minded, none of them particularly caring for the lizard, all of them solely motivated by the fear of betraying him. There was no doubt he had made many new and great changes for the monster kind, many of them reclaiming much of the land they had lost over the years, the Butterfly Kingdom's realm slowly shrinking after every new attack, but Toffee had been shown to have a cruel side, especially amongst his main group of monsters, that had been hand selected by Buff Frog, and he in no way tolerated incompetence.

But, luckily, Toffee wasn't present at the event and so the monsters could celebrate to their hearts content, cheering on their triumph and recounting the thrilling tale of their escapades to the three monsters who hadn't been present for the event. There was no doubt that they owed most of their gratitude to Buff Frog, who had led the monsters with levelheadedness and experience that was rivaled only by Toffee himself. In everyone's eyes Buff Frog was the hero of the day.

The frog in question seemed overjoyed as well, smiled and celebrated with the rest of his fellow monsters, while on the inside he shivered, adding new and terrifying images into his subconscious, piling them on top of the growing list of frights that would surely continue to haunt his nightmares. Deep down, Buff Frog knew murdering innocent Mewmans was something he truly didn't have the stomach for, but he did what he had to do to survive and to keep Marco safe. And so he continued on with his missions, rallying the monsters into raid after raid, as the Mewman death count continued to rise, only the thought of seeing Marco again keeping him going.

And with his mind drifting to that of his adopted son, Buff Frog felt impatience to break away from the party and check on the boy, but as Toffee's right claw monster he had to keep up appearances, waiting for the right time to sneak away without drawing too much attention on himself. It took what felt to him like forever but eventually he found a lag in the party and quickly withdrew himself without being noticed.

He knew he was expected by Toffee, who was surely waiting for his report on the mission to be delivered, but he needed to see Marco first, needing to see his smiling face. He knocked on the door, waiting patiently for a reply so as to not disturb the teenager's privacy. But after a moment with no answer, Buff Frog began to worry, knocking on the door once again, putting an ear softly to the door, trying to hear any signs of life from behind the wooden frame. But once again there was no reply and the frog's worry grew. Finally, concern outweighed courtesy, and he entered into the dark room.

At first, Buff Frog thought Marco wasn't there, and he felt a deep primal fear surging through him, until he saw a shifting shadow in the darkness ahead. He sighed in relief and made his way carefully across the room, wishing he didn't lack the night vision most monsters had, his eyes never leaving the lump of shadow in front of him. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and he found himself standing over the curled up form of Marco, tucked tightly into a ball on his bed.

"Marco," Buff Frog whispered softly, bending down to the boy's level. But Marco didn't turn around, keeping his heads buried in his arms. "Marco, what is wrong?" Buff Frog tried again, trying to keep his voice calm despite the worry he felt, Marco only curling up on himself even more as the amphibian spoke.

"I'm a bad person," came the boy's only reply, his voice slightly muffled, but it still managed to make Buff Frog ache over how pain-filled it sounded. He sounded like he had been crying.

"Now, now," Buff Frog soothed in his surprisingly calming accent, gently patting Marco's head. "Everything is okay."

Marco suddenly turned around to face him, his eyes red and blood-shot, dried tear marks flowing all the way down his face, his hair messier than usual. He seemed to be careful as he shifted, keeping a hand rested on his arm, as he gave the monster the most hurt look Buff Frog had ever seen on the child. He looked at the boy with sympathy, feeling his stomach twist in agony at the sight of his distressed son.

"No, it's not," Marco cried, sobbing softly to himself, Buff Frog noticing the boy's hand tightening its hold on his arm. On closer inspection, he saw that there was blood on Marco's fingertips and he panicked ripping Marco's hand away from his arm, inspecting the freshly cut claw marks with an equal mixture of fear and confusion.

"Marco, what happened?" the monster asked, his voice shaky as he stared at the claw marks in terror.

Marco opened his mouth to answer, but instead he broke down into a sob once again, tears freely streaming down his face. Buff Frog could only stare in shock at the crying child. "T-Toffee came in earlier," Marco explained in-between gasps of breath. "A-And he found out I've been sneaking out of the castle. And he-he..." Marco broke off, tears dripping down his face, hitting the soft covers of his bed with a muted _plop_.

Buff Frog watched his son in silence, his own stare of agony matching Marco's perfectly as he put a comforting hand on Marco's cheek, making Marco jump, as his eyes met his father's. "Did he do this to you?" the monster asked, anger leaking into his distressed voice.

Marco nodded and looked away, guilt gnawing away at him once again. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his hands fidgeting with the now damp bedsheets.

"No." Buff Frog said suddenly, making Marco look up, startled. "No apologizing. You are good boy. You do nothing wrong." The frog's voice was soft and he gently wiped the tears off of Marco's face, giving him a loving smile.

"B-But I disobeyed orders," Marco said putting a hand on Buff Frog's arm, pulling it away from his face, guilt evident in his glassy eyes. "I went outside and-"

"Of course you go outside," Buff Frog said softly. "Toffee keep you trapped here. Of course, you wish to see outside world."

Marco sniffed, his arm and back aching. "I'll never leave again," he whispered and Buff Frog's heart broke as his adopted son lay his head against his muscular chest, seeking comfort. Buff Frog wrapped his arms around the boy, gently patting his back as he hushed the crying boy.

Buff Frog stayed with Marco for a few hours, comforting him, trying to soothe his troubled mind with no luck, until finally, Marco became too exhausted from crying and fell asleep in his father's arms, his mind finally seeming to be at peace. Buff Frog held the boy against him for a while, lost in his thoughts, gently rubbing a hand up and down his adopted son's back. It hurt Buff Frog to no end to see Marco in so much distress and his anger boiled at the thought of Toffee harming Marco. That went against their deal. And so, as the frog monster tucked the sleeping boy in, he felt a growing determination rising within him. He rose from the bed, anger and hurt fueling him, as he stormed off for Toffee's room.

…

It was always cold in the room, because he felt stronger in the cold, enjoying watching everyone shiver when they entered the room. He often kept it dark, lighting only a few small candles here and there, his night vision filling in any problems he had at seeing in the darkness. At the moment, the room was pitch black, the only form of light seeping out from underneath his door.

This door creaked open slowly, breaking the crushing silence the room had been consumed by, as Buff Frog entered, his breath already fogging in the icy air. He stepped inside, waiting for the lizard to speak, not bothering to look for him, he had night vision, Buff Frog did not. In this room he was completely at the disadvantage. The frog waited for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, keeping close to the door and the little light it provided, not daring to venture any farther in. Though he was cold he refused to shiver, not wanting to give Toffee the satisfaction.

"I've been expecting you, Buff Frog," Toffee's voice called from the dark, bouncing off the walls making it impossible to pinpoint his location.

"Toffee, we need to talk," Buff Frog began, looking straight ahead with a determined grimace.

"Well that was the plan, wasn't it?" Toffee's voice rang out once again. "You tell me the results of your mission and-"

"No!" Buff Frog yelled, his patience reaching its limit. "We talk about Marco."

"Very well." Buff Frog flinched at the sound of Toffee's voice directly behind him. He turned surprised to see Toffee staring at him with a bored expression, his eyes hiding a knowing, evil glint. Buff Frog felt a chill run down his spine but managed to match the lizard's stare.

"I see Marco, he is covered in cuts you give to him," Buff Frog began, anger in his accent.

"Yes well, he disobeyed me, he needed to be punished," Toffee replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"It is not your place to punish him!"

"As long as Marco is under my roof he will abide by my rules. Honestly, Buff Frog, we already agreed to this years ago."

"No, you force me to make deal. And now my little Marco is hurt because of it," Buff Frog looked hurt for a second but he quickly recovered hiding it behind his glare once again. But it had been there, that much Toffee was sure of and he allowed himself a small smile of victory.

"I am through with your deals," Buff Frog continued after taking a moment to recover, his voice as threatening as he could make it, as he closed the distance between the two, their faces now just inches from touching. "You release Marco now."

Toffee finally reacted, his eyes narrowing slightly at the frog monster in front of him. Though Buff Frog could tell the lizard was growing angry, he refused to back away. "No," the lizard replied, his voice as bland and emotionless as ever. "Marco is going to remain right here. Where I can keep an eye on him."

"You mean where you can control him!"

"Marco has a mind of his own, he requires control."

"No, he needs freedom! Something we should have given him years ago."

Toffee smiled. "Even if we give him the choice, he will never leave. He's too afraid to, afraid he'll hurt the monsters, afraid he'll upset you... afraid he'll be punished by me." Toffee gave the monster a confident smirk, before continuing. "Face it Buff Frog, he is under my control. As are you."

Buff Frog's fists were shaking from clenching so hard, as he slowly said in a dark tone, "Marco is not your pawn." He spat every syllable at the horrible monster, his eyes glaring hatred at the well-dressed reptile.

Toffee merely shrugged, walking past the monster, who froze in confusion, no longer sure what he should do. "Being blind to the truth doesn't free you from it, it makes you confined to it. You and he really are so much alike. Your both ridiculously easy to control."

"I will not allow you to control him," Buff Frog said, turning to glare daggers at the lizard's unguarded back.

Toffee sighed with annoyance, turning back to his minion with anger clearly displayed on his face, no longer able to hide his irritation behind his business-like demeanor. "If you try anything, Buff Frog. I will be forced to take desperate measure," his voice was commanding, his eyes digging deep underneath the frog's skin, who did his best to keep his eyes level with the lizard's, whose own eyes narrowed with a killing intent that frightened the frog far more than he was willing to admit.

"Are you threatening my son?!" Buff Frog said softly, his voice shaking with rage.

"Of course not," Toffee replied, but his eyes held a knowing glint. "I'm just saying, Marco is a very disobedient boy, if he keeps acting up I may have to start punishing him more, much more. After all, we can't have him getting in the way of our missions. If he were to discover the truth, he would reject all of us... including you."

Buff Frog said nothing, but his resolve had weakened, giving Toffee the advantage. "Take my word for it Buff Frog. It's better this way, for everybody."

Buff Frog looked away from Toffee's unbroken stare, all signs of anger drained from his face, looking more hurt than anything else. Toffee smiled to himself, before walking back into the darkness of his room. "Your dismissed," Toffee's voice called, echoing around the room once again.

The frog monster silently turned and exited the room, his face passive and compliant, all his rage now replaced with a depressed stare. At least on the outside. On the inside, Buff Frog burned with anger, frustrated at the lizard and himself for allowing this to go on for as long as it had. _But no more_ , Buff Frog swore. He had thought he was protecting Marco by keeping him there, but it had been a lie. It was time to keep the promise he had made to the boy all those years ago. The gears in his head were turning a mile a minute, as a plan slowly started developing in his mind.

…

It was late at night, when Marco was awoken from his slumber, feeling a gentle shaking on his arm. At first he believed it was just part of his dream and allowed the welcoming sanctuary of his sleep to take him over once again. But as his arm was shook the next time, Marco knew something was off, that this was not the dream he was currently consumed by. But his eyes still remained closed, not having the strength to awaken himself just yet. He was shaken a third time, this one harder than the others, his whole body shaking in rhythm to the force of the unknown source of discomfort. A voice softly whispering his name and this was enough to pull Marco' frazzled brain out of its vegetated state.

He opened his eyes softly, turning to see Buff Frog standing over him, his face more grim than he had ever seen it, instantly startling the sleep-deprived boy, making his heart rate pick up slightly.

"Buff Frog," Marco whispered groggily, sitting up, rubbing his tired eyes absentmindedly. The monster put a finger to his lips, confusing the boy, who suddenly felt a cold twinge of fear. "What's going on?" he asked, panic in his hushed voice.

But all Buff Frog said was, "Get dressed." Marco obeyed instantly, leaping into action, fear overpowering his tired state, his body moving into overdrive as he jumped off the bed, running to his closet. As the boy changed out of the clothes he had slept in and into a fresh pair, Buff Frog kept an eye outside the room, as if he was expecting some kind of danger to come around the corner and attack. But Marco had lived his whole life in the castle and he had never known it to be anything but safe. Marco grimaced as his gray shirt brushed uncomfortably with the stinging scar on his exposed back. Well, as safe as it could be.

Once he was dressed in his usual fashion, Buff Frog took him by the shoulder, making sure it was not the hurt one, leading the boy quietly out of the castle. The going was slow, Buff Frog's eyes in constant motion darting around looking for any sign of trouble or resistance. But he had long since memorized the path of the night guards and was able to easily avoid detection.

Marco followed behind the frog monster, studying his facial expressions as they pressed on through the quite castle with a purpose, one that was unknown to Marco. He had never seen Buff Frog so intense or fearful before and it scared him to think of what exactly it was that could turn the calm, confident leader into a hesitant ball of stress.

At one point, a shadow appeared from around a corner, its length stretching long and wide against the wall but quickly shrinking as its owner grew closer to the two, and Buff Frog pulled the boy against the wall, out of the approaching guard's path of vision, putting a protective hand in front of him, watching the shadow with a held breath. He had been sure that there was no guard on this path and he silently cursed himself for the mess-up. The shadow continued to shrink as the night guard grew closer and closer to the two, until finally it stopped at the end of the hallway, all he needed to do was walk around the corner and they would be spotted. Buff Frog dared not breathe as Marco looked at the shadow in silent confusion.

But luckily, the night guard turned on his heels walking away from the two, his shadow growing in length with every passing step, the echoing of his footsteps ringing off the castle walls. Buff Frog sighed at the close call, trying to think of another exit out of the castle. Surely the front gate would be guarded and any chance of getting past it practically impossible. And the more time they spent out here in the open, the more chance they had at getting caught. Buff Frog felt a growing sense of panic as his internal clock slowly ticked away, every second growing more and more dangerous for him and the child. It was only a matter of time before the guards checked in on Marco and the whole castle was put on high alert. The frog grimaced, knowing their window of escape was closing fast. Buff Frog froze, this last thought giving him a new idea.

He looked around for any signs of what he needed, relieved to find a window on the opposite wall, just out of sight of the night guards vision. He pulled the confused boy over to the window, opening it quietly. Cold air immediately flooded into the room, making Marco shiver.

"What's going on Buff Frog?" Marco asked the monster, who was silently judging the distance below. "Why are we sneaking around? Why are we hiding from the other monsters?"

Buff Frog turned to the Mewman, his face the picture of hesitation as he tried to find the right words to explain their situation to his young charge. But none came to mind and so he merely sighed and said in a soft whisper, "Because we are running away."

Marco's eyes widened in terror as his whole world began to quickly spin out of control. "W-What?! Why?!" he said in a voice that could just barely pass for a whisper. Everything felt wrong in that moment, nothing could possibly be right. He couldn't run away! After merely sneaking out for a few hours he had been punished with scars on his arm and back. If he was caughtleaving for good he had no idea what to expect to from Toffee. Not to mention how hurt and upset the other monsters would be over him going. He couldn't leave. He couldn't go. It wasn't right.

"Marco I know you are afraid, but this place is no longer safe for you. You need your freedom, you need your life."

Marco started to back away from the monster he knew as his father, too afraid to escape, too afraid to leave behind everything he had ever known. But Buff Frog couldn't let him escape, grabbing him firmly, but softly by the wrist, pulling him in close. "We must go," Buff Frog said, his voice hard, yet sympathetic and Marco felt confusion at the familiarity of it when everything else felt so strange and wrong. And in that moment of hesitation, Marco was swept up into the monsters arms, the boy not even having a chance to scream as the frog leapt out the window, both of them now free falling to the ground below.

Marco wrapped his arms tight around the muscular amphibian every nerve in his body on edge as the cold, night air rushed around him, the ground now hurtling toward the boy. He screamed, closing his eyes shut, as he waited for the crash that was inevitably coming.

But, to Marco's surprise and relief, they didn't crash, Buff Frog instead springing up off the ground, his animal instincts taking over as they hopped forward, now sailing over the towering treeline of the forest that bordered Toffee's castle. After clearing easily twenty feet, they began to descend once again, branches and tree limbs flying by, scratches and cuts appearing all over the two's bodies as the sharp objects make contact with their fragile skin.

As the monster and passenger came to a safe landing, Buff Frog gently set Marco back on his feet, who pulled away from the monster the second he had a chance. Buff Frog was hurt by the boy's reaction, but didn't move toward him, not wanting to frighten him anymore than he already had, just staring patiently at the boy, waiting.

Marco was taking deep, shallow breaths, fear and confusion flowing through him at once, clashing within his brain, doing nothing more than give him a headache. Marco grabbed onto his aching head, unknowingly tugging at his messy hair, feeling the world growing dimmer with each panted breath.

"Marco," Buff Frog began and Marco froze, staring at his father, lost and confused. "You must understand. This is not life I want for you. I want you have normal life, with other Mewmans."

"But Toffee said the other Mewmans didn't want me," Marco said in a shaky voice.

"He lied. He always lie. He made all monsters keep secrets from you. Hide you from truth."

"What do you mean?" Marco cried tears welling up in his eyes, his whole world shattering with every word as his frazzled brain trying to make sense of it all. "What truth? I-I don't know what your talking about."

Buff Frog opened his mouth to respond, but then he heard a shout in the distance. He felt panic rising, knowing the monsters were quickly closing in on them. He turned to his son, closing the distance between them, as he held the boy firmly by his shoulders, looking into his frightened eyes. "Listen to me, Marco. You are going to learn many things about us, many bad, awful things. You may grow to hate us and no one blame you for it. But just know that I always love you like own son."

Another shout was heard and Marco jumped, breaking eye contact with the monster to try and spot it, but Buff Frog never looked away from the boy as he continued. "Now go. Go out into world, my son. Learn about life, learn about world, and learn about yourself. Become person you always meant to be. Become person I always believed you to be. Go and never look back."

Marco opened his mouth to reply, but Buff Frog pulled a pair of dimensional scissors out of his pocket, immediately cutting open a glowing portal in front of them. As Marco marveled over this new, strange sight, Buff Frog gave him a gentle shove, pushing Marco through the swirling vertex.

Marco screamed as the world around him, the world he had always known, fell away, a new world of unknown possibilities opening itself up to the boy. Buff Frog closed the portal, an emptiness settling itself inside him. But he had no time to ponder this as the monsters finally caught up with the frog, all rushing toward him quickly. He gave them all an empty stare, before he leapt off the ground once again, sailing high over the treetops, the others only able to stare in confusion and defeat as their only hope of finding the missing boy disappeared into the cold, empty night.

 **A/N: So yeah, that just happened. This one was pretty exhausted due to its pure length, but I got it done and that's all that matters. Fun fact: the prologue was actually going to be a part of chapter one but I just didn't have the time and I didn't want to overwhelm everyone with the length of the first chapter. I suppose I could have divided this one up into a few chapters, as well, but I want to go ahead and get going with the story and not waste too much time with the monsters, as cool as they are. So next up is going to be the meeting and introduction of everyone's favorite magical princess, oh yeah! I need me my Starco!**

 **And oh hey, did you all see the Battle for Mewni movie. It was amazing! I won't give spoilers just in case but I loved it and can't wait for more! So yeah, guess I better wrap it up and let you guys go (I think I've held you hostage for long enough) so have a great month and I will be posting again in about four weeks. I know that's a longer wait than the last one but I'm jumping back and forth between this and my other fanfiction. But don't worry four weeks is the maximum I hope to go without updating and will try to not exceed it. Love you all and I'll see you next time!**

 **Rocketkellett- Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed and yeah I had to set up a lot in that short little opening. I love the idea of Buff Frog being a father to Marco and Toffee is just too entertaining a villain to resist. I will confirm, and I think this chapter kinda did, that yeah they are dead, but their son lives on. And don't worry I will try not to let you wait too long for the next one.**

 **Dex Cipher- Thanks! I can't wait to give you more to see!**

 **S.t.a.r.c. .131313- Aww, that is so nice of you to say *hides all spelling errors with hands. Yeah I'm gonna try to update no later than four weeks, cause waiting is the worst, so hopefully you can come to expect an update from little old me. And thank you so much for favoriting and following me, I will try to live up to my role.**

 **Kurokono Tasuke- You are so sweet, thank you! Yeah I've had a lot of people say it's an interesting plot. I'm sure something similar might exist here on fanfiction, but I made it my own so that's all that matters. And if I am the first than Yayyy! I'm glad you love it and hope you continue to do so.**

 **SJMT shipper- Well I'm glad you are enjoying it! And I hope this is the right story to calm you down, as it seems to be hyping everyone up. Soooo, here new friend, have a cliff hanger! I have tons to spare. Yeah, the prologue was pretty cool. And not to worry, new friend, I will update _regularly_! Now I leave you with hugs, *Huggggs!**

 **Person- Thanks, I will! And you keep being an awesome Person.**

 **WootWoo- Hey, go ahead and like what you like. I don't fault you, Toffee is a great character. Just because I like him as a villain doesn't mean you have to too. If you don't enjoy the story then you are welcome to stop, I completely understand.**

 **Yazyky- Aww, merci! Annnd that is the height of my French. So the rest of my comment will be in English as I don't want to butcher your beautiful language. ^w^' I'm glad you loved it and it means a lot to have someone from another country enjoying my work. I will continue to update and make this story great in the name of the wand! Long may it reign! câlins et bisous!**

 **Next update: Four weeks**


	3. When Star Met Marco

Chapter 2: When Star Met Marco

 **I'm back, everyone! Wow it's been a busy couple of weeks, but I got it done and I'm so happy to be posting it on time. It's not perfect, but nothing ever is and I'm glad with how it turned out. Thank you so much to everyone for all your favorites, follows, and comments, they just mean the world to me and I'm so thankful to have fans like you reading my work. I mean it, you are all incredible!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the Forces of Evil and all its characters are owned by Disney and its creator Daron Nefcy. All rights go to them.**

Marco had been walking for what felt like hours. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, just having to blindly follow the path he had eventually found himself on. The sun rose into the sky, turning night to day and still Marco walked on. He felt miserable as he trudged on, his legs and feet sore and aching from the long trip, heavy bags hung thickly under his tired eyes, and the fresh scars from Toffee still stung his arms and back.

But the thing that seemed the worse for him were the thoughts that troubled his tired mind. Buff Frog's words looped through his head over and over again. He had no idea what Buff Frog had been talking about, but if what he said was true then everything Marco had ever known was a lie. That apparently the monsters that had raised him since birth had been lying to him about their true purpose and intentions. Marco felt lost, both literally and figuratively, and now he was completely on his own, there was no one here to help him figure out what he should do. Marco had never felt so alone.

Marco stopped, letting his sore legs rest for a moment, looking on at the unending path in front of him. He was in some kind of forest, but on what dimension he had no clue. He could be anywhere and he wished more than anything to know where exactly he was. _Was this what Buff Frog wanted?_ he wondered. _To bring me to this place and then let me walk forever. Is this my punishment for disobeying?_

The boy sighed, rubbing his sore eyes with the palms of his hands, softly whispering to himself, "What am I supposed to do?"

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the silence of the morning. Marco screamed and jumped at the ear-splitting rattle, tripping over his own feet and falling to the hard, forest floor. Marco swerved, looked over in the direction he had heard the sound, only to see a giant, rainbow-colored mushroom cloud rising into the air just a short distance away.

To say Marco was in shock by what he was seeing was an understatement. Marco felt a mixture of different emotions rush through him at once, fear, curiosity, awe, wonder, fear again, excitement, his whole body petrified, as he lay there on the forest path, unable to do anything but stare in wonder at the colorful phenomenon that now invaded his frazzled senses.

And just as suddenly as it had come, the puff of color-coded smoke was gone again, disappearing into the morning sky, leaving Marco panting for breath, his heart hammering away in his chest. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision from the spots that now coated the majority of sight, his mind trying to make sense of the wonder he had just witnessed, almost unable to believe it had been real. Finally, he managed to calm his breathing and racing heart, as he stared intensely at the sight of the explosion, waiting to see if anything would happen again.

Sure enough, after a few moments of silence Marco was rewarded with another loud boom that seemed to rattle the forest itself, a thick, pink blast, immediately spreading outward in a large shock-wave, forcing the flora and fauna to blow against their normal current and instead bend to its powerful will. Marco was overtaken by the pink energy, feeling a hot breeze on his face as rocks and dust scattered around him, shifted around by the force of the wind. Then just like before, the wave passed, the forest returning to its normal, silent state, any evidence to the contrary nonexistent.

Marco breathed, his eyes shining with wonder at the strange experience, his mind reeling with new, unanswered questions. _What was that?_ Marco thought, his thoughts quickly spiraling out of control. His curiosity overwhelmed him as a deep burning rose up in his chest, feeling an intense need to learn more about this strange, unknown occurrence. But at the same time, Marco knew going toward large explosions was probably a bad idea. He thought carefully for a moment, weighed his options back and forth, battling between his safety instincts and his burning curiosity. Finally, he came to the conclusion that while the explosion was dangerous, it was the first sign of life he had seen since he had arrived here. And besides, he rationalized. What other options did he have? Keep walking with no clue where he was or where he was going?

Marco took a deep breath, before rising to his shaky feet and heading off in the direction of the two previous explosions. As he crept forward he heard the tell-tale signs of another explosion before the forest was engulfed in a bright pink light, that left Marco blind for a few seconds. A few moments later, he heard the sound again this time accompanied by a sweet smell, that reminded him of pancakes. Marco's stomach growled and he became suddenly aware of the fact that he hadn't eaten any breakfast yet and he pushed on a little faster this time.

As Marco continued on through the forest, accompanied only by the sound of explosions, he found the tree line thinning more and more as he went, the passage become much clearer as he walked. Eventually, the boy made it to a small clearing, a bright, shining lake surrounded by tree stumps and burnt grass, probably due to all the explosions. Marco quickly hid behind the closest tree to him as he finally saw the source of the loud, dangerous racket. A girl.

She had long, golden hair that seemed to shine whenever the light caught it, pretty pink hearts beneath her bright, sky blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with her sweet, carefree smile. She wore a green dress with a little pink creature on it that Marco didn't recognize, purple and orange leggings and stylish purple boots. As Marco watched the girl, he found himself entranced by her, as his heart hammered away in his chest and his eyes shined with wonder. He had never seen a girl before but he was sure they weren't supposed to be that pretty.

To Marco's amazement and confusion the girl turned on her heels, holding out a small pink and purple wand with a star crystal in its center. She began waving the colorful object around in the air, a pink energy gathering around it. Before Marco could ponder the meaning behind it, the girl stopped, holding the wand directly in front of her, and shouted, "Super Rainbow Explosion!"

Marco's mouth dropped open as a rainbow came streaking out of her wand, zipping high into the air, before crashing down on a unknowing tree, disappearing into a colorful explosion that closely resembled the one from before. Marco was frozen in shock, unable to believe that this pretty girl was capable of such violent destruction. He had never seen magic before and he had no idea what he was supposed to do now that he had.

But the girl seemed unaffected by the fantastic, yet destructive, display, as she continued to shoot off more spells, blast after blast being released from her magical stick, each more impressive than the last. Rainbows, lasers, cupcakes, pineapples, flowers, kittens, and even some kind of aquatic creatures she called "narwhals" came flying out of the wand, decimating the forest around her. At one point the girl lost her balance after shooting off a spell she called, "Super Rainbow Kitten Explosion Nightmare!" falling uncomfortably to the floor. Marco flinched, wanting to run over to her and help her up, but finding himself frozen in place.

The girl stood with a groan, looking at her wand with uncertainty. But she took a deep breath, trying a much easier spell, still looking a little hesitant doing so. The girl continued on for a while, getting into a steady rhythm as she sent narwhals, cupcakes, and all manors of adorable destruction hurtling around the forest, her body moving with a delicate grace.

Marco began finding it harder to keep up with the girl as she continued her magic show, her movements often taking her out of sight from the curious boy, who remained crouched behind the tree. He began to feel impatient not wanting to take his eyes off the girl, some strange, unknown emotion overpowering him. Finally, he pushed aside his safety instincts, quickly hauling himself up the nearest tree branch.

He climbed up a few branches, until he had a good view of the clearing and, more importantly, the Mewman girl. The blond flung spell after spell into the air, looking happy and carefree, and Marco couldn't help but smile along with her. His eyes shined with wonder as he followed the girl's every movement, studying her intensely, his twin suns glowing softly without his knowledge. For a while, the two seemed content in that reality, the girl flinging colorful spells into the air, Marco watching her from a safe distance in the tree, and for a bit Marco felt blissfully attached to the girl, all his worries forgotten, his universe reducing down to just the two of them.

Finally, the girl stopped, lowering the wand to her side, taking deep breaths. She ran a hand through her flowing, golden hair, letting it dance around her fingertips. As she did, the early morning sun reflected off the lake, making the whole girl's body seem to glow. Marco unknowingly leaned forward on the branch, wanting to see the girl's face, needing to look into those bright, blue eyes, his stomach flipping uncontrollably. As he did though, he shifted his weight too much and the branch, now overwhelmed, gave a loud snap. Marco heard the noise, but before he had time to ponder what it meant, the branch caved and the boy found himself free-falling to the hard floor below.

He released a scream as he began his descent, his body hitting some of the branches on his way down, messing with his scars and causing them to begin their cycle of pain all over again. Finally, Marco hit the hard, forest ground and he felt the air rush out of him, his whole body throbbing. He struggled to regain his breath, giving weak little coughs as he tried to fill his lungs with oxygen once again. He shakily sat up, rubbing the back of his head, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to fight through his pain. He opened his eyes, giving a deep sigh, only to freeze seeing the girl staring at him with a surprised look on her cheerful face, her blond hair still blowing freely in the breeze.

Marco felt his cheeks grow bright red at both the embarrassment at being seen and the strange feeling he got as the girl's sky blue eyes focused solely on him. He panicked, not sure what to do now, this was his very first encounter with a Mewman and it wasn't going great so far. So, in his embarrassed state he did the only thing he could think of, he jumped to his feet and ran, ran as far away from the girl as he could, trying desperately to escape from both her and the strange feelings that seemed to have been brought on by overexposure to her.

He heard her call after him but he didn't slow down, his cheeks still burning from his blush. He was confused, he had never felt that way before. Was it because of the girl? Or was it just him? Marco kept running, turning to look behind him, making sure the girl wasn't following. But suddenly Marco's foot slipped and he turned just in time to see he had reached the top of a rocky hill.

His arms flailed wildly, as he tried desperately to regain some sense of balance, but it was to no avail, as the cruel force of gravity took its hold over him and sent the boy falling over the edge. Marco screamed as, for the second time that day, he felt a moment of weightlessness, before he crashed hard into the rocky surface, releasing a loud grunt. He rolled quickly down the hill, his body seeming to collide with every rock possible before he finally reached the bottom.

Marco released a pained groan as his whole body throbbed with discomfort. He lay there for a moment waiting for his weak, fragile body to recover from his wounds, filling sick as the world spun around him in an unending loop, the only comfort his sluggish mind could find in that pain-filled moment was that Toffee's scars were currently the least painful part of his body at the moment.

"Are you okay?"

Marco jumped at the sound of the voice above, instantly regretting the pain that accompanied the quick movement, and he looked up to see the girl from before staring down at him from the top of the hill, concern on her cute face. Marco felt his cheeks burn once again, his mouth clamping shut, all thoughts frozen in his mind, as he squinted up at the girl with a shocked stare, admiring the light still dancing off her blond hair. The girl, seeing Marco wasn't going to answer her, leapt forward, sliding down the hill (more gracefully than Marco) landing lightly on her feet, close to where Marco lay.

Marco immediately began backing up away from the girl, his pain subsiding immensely, the strange feelings he was experiencing confusing him and making him skittish. The blond turned to the frightened boy, confusion shining in her blue eyes, as she took a few steps closer to him. "Are you hurt?" she asked, looking him up and down, her eyes focused on him and him alone.

Marco said nothing, his back hitting the cliff-side, realizing too late that he had literally backed himself into a corner. The girl, either not noticing his strange behavior (or most likely) not caring, continued forward bending down to the boy's level, making his blush worsen. "Here let me see," she said, holding her hand out.

Marco eyed the outstretched hand, suspiciously. The girl gave a small smile saying, "I just want to help." The boy, however, didn't seem convinced, pushing himself farther against the cliff as he could, ignoring the stinging in his back, keeping a weary eye on the blond's hand.

The girl was surprised by the boy's reaction to her, but kept the smile on her face as she softly whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Marco felt shivers run down his spine as the girl spoke and he finally looked away from the hand, his eyes immediately catching her own. The two were both thrown off guard as brown met blue, both surprised by how vast the others eyes were, finding themselves easily able to get lost in them. "I'm Star," the girl continued, putting her free hand to her chest, a bright smile on her face, her eyes remaining locked with his. Marco just stared at her for a moment, studying her stunning face, until it clicked in his brain that he was supposed to say his name back to her. Words failed him as he tried desperately to remember what his name was and how to say it, the girl's stare burning into his skin.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, he took a deep breath, trying to ignore the feelings in his gut and heat in his cheeks as the girl continued to smile at him. "I'm Marco," he said, his voice a small squeak. He flinched at the sound of his voice cracking, really wishing the ground beneath him would just open up and swallow him whole.

But Star, to Marco's surprise, didn't seem to notice and instead smiled at him, the brightest smile he had ever seen, her eyes shining with unparalleled joy. "Oh, you can talk," she said excitedly, as if this was the best news she had ever heard. "I was starting to be afraid you couldn't. But I guess you can, huh? You just must be shy." As she spoke she slowly closed the distance between the two, their faces just inches apart.

Marco lowered his head in embarrassment, conforming Star's suspicions. "Aww, you don't have to be shy. I don't bite," she said, giggling a little at her own joke. Marco couldn't help but smile, this girl's laughter was contagious, in fact, it occurred to Marco that Star's happiness in general seemed like it was infectious.

"Look at that, I got you to smile," she exclaimed clapping her hands together in joy. She stood to her full height, offering Marco her hand once again. Marco eyed the hand, unsure if he should take it or not, his safety instincts making him cautious once again.

"C'mon," she said in a soft, soothing voice. "I can't help you if you won't let me." Marco looked up at Star, her bright, smiling face making his heart skip a beat. Slowly, he reached his hand out to hers. He hesitated for a moment, before taking her hand into his own. Marco was instantly surprised by how soft Star's hand was, finding a bizarre comfort in her touch. But before he could over-think it, Star pulled him to his feet.

Once he was standing and steady again, she let go of his hand and he instantly missed the warmth it had brought. Marco let his hand fall to his side, his fingers tingling from her touch. "So what exactly were you doing in that tree?" she asked, her voice with just the slightest hint of suspicion.

"I-I was just trying to get a better look at you," Marco stuttered, his eyes darting around looking at anything except Star.

Star gave him a suspicious look, suddenly put off by the boy. "Why?"

"I'd never seen anyone so pretty before," Marco admitted, his voice without a hint of hesitation as he voiced his thoughts aloud.

Star gave him a deadpanned stare and Marco could feel himself sweating, suddenly unsure what he had done to upset her. "Are you hitting on me?" she asked with a clearly annoyed tone.

"What, no!" Marco panicked, waving his arms up and down, his voice clearly distressed. "I'd never hit you! Why would I hit you?! I mean, we just met!"

There was a short, awkward moment of silence between the two, Marco with his hands still raised in gesture, grimacing at his new companion, and Star just staring at him with a surprised look on her face. _Oh boy,_ Marco thought. _Here it comes. She's gonna hate me now for sure._

Instead, Star burst into laughter, her cute, smiling face making her look cuter than ever and making the confused Marco blush even harder. He was at a complete loss for words, this girl kept flip-flopping so much, Marco had no way to keep up. One moment she was mad, now she was laughing. Marco had no idea what he was supposed to do now. The girl continued to giggle, tears now welling up in her eyes. And now she's crying. Marco really didn't understand Mewmans at all.

Star finally managing to overcome her giggle fit, brushing the tears out of her eyes, gasping out, "Man I really needed that. I haven't laughed that hard in years."

"Sooo your not mad," Marco asked, hesitantly, bracing himself in case he upset her again.

"Nah, it's all good," she said, putting an arm around him. "You don't seem like a creep or anything. So it's fine."

"A creep?" Marco whispered in confusion, but Star didn't hear him, looking around now for any signs of life other than them.

"So do you live around here?" she asked, still scanning the area

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "Actually I'm kinda lost. Do you know what dimension this is?"

"Uh, Mewni, of course," Star said, confused, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the boy.

"W-Wait I'm still on Mewni!" Marco exclaimed, looking around at the lively jungle.

"Yeah, of course," Star said, pulling away from the boy, staring into his eyes with a questioning gaze. "Why would you ask?"

"Uh, guess I just got kinda turned around," Marco said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, well, my town's just a little ways off from here," she added, pointing off into the distance. "Maybe your home is back that way."

"No I don't really have a home at the moment." Marco said hesitantly, not meeting Star's eyes.

"Oh," Star said, unsure what to make of the new information, feeling the awkward tension that had sprung up between the two. "Wellll, maybe we could look around and see if we could find your parents," she suggested, her voice unsure.

Marco flinched, his eyes filling with hurt and loss, as Star instantly regretted saying anything, her awkward smile vanishing as she took in the sad look on the boy's face.

"My parents are... dead," he said, his eyes slowly drifting down to the floor, each word feeling like a stab to the gut. Star stared at him silently, her eyes filling with sympathy.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered softly, bending down so she could look into the disheartened boy's eyes. Marco merely shook his head, his eyes welling up with tears and that was all Star could take.

Without another word, she closed the distance between the two, wrapping her arms gently around the crying boy. Marco stiffened as she pulled him in close to her, burying her head into his shoulder, her warmth suddenly blending in with his. Marco felt his heart rate speeding up rapidly, his blurry eyes now shining with the strange, confusing emotion that seemed to be radiating off the girl. "I'm so sorry," she whispered softly into his ear, in the most comforting voice she could manage. Marco felt a warmth fill him, as the girl held him close, trying to comfort him in his fragile state. The two stayed like that for a moment, Star comforting him, running a hand gently up and down his back, Marco slowly relaxing underneath her soothing touch. Finally, she pulled away from him, staring deep into his brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked, taking his hand into her own, once again, giving it a gentle squeeze. Marco nodded, wiping his eyes free of tears. He gave her a thankful smile, which she easily returned, her eyes drifting down to their intertwined hands. The blond gasped and Marco quickly followed her gaze to the scar Toffee had left the day before. He panicked, quickly covering the wound from her sight, but she pushed his hand out of the way, drawing his arm in closer to her for inspection, Marco feeling more nervous in that moment, then he had ever felt in his entire life.

"Oh, Marco," she gently breathed, and Marco felt his stomach twist with guilt. _This is it_ , Marco thought. _She's going to know how useless and disobedient I am. She's gonna hate me forever._ Marco closed his eyes, awaiting her scorn and scolding. "Your hurt!"

Marco's eyes flew open, staring shocked at the girl, who had tears in her sky, blue eyes. "You poor thing. I knew you had to be hurt after falling so many times." Marco just stared at her in utter confusion, barely able to process her words. "Come on, you can come home with me! We need to get that looked at."

"W-What?" Marco stuttered, flushing bright red again as Star began dragging him behind her. "But we just met."

"Aww, that's okay. I can tell you're a good person, Marco," she said over her shoulder, giving him another soft smile, all signs of sadness or worry gone, replaced with an infectious joy once again.

"O-Okay," Marco whispered, allowing Star to lead him away to some unknown town. Maybe it wasn't the safest choice but he saw no other option and if he was being honest, he wanted to be around this strange, pretty girl. As they walked, Marco couldn't help but look down at their intertwined hands. Was this the first Mewman he had ever really interacted with before? He had never met any others, all his interactions consisting entirely of Toffee and the rest of the monsters. Was Star really his first Mewman, was she the first one to ever hold his hand or smile at him? The very thought of it made Marco's hand tingle, the warmth of his new companion's own hand making his heart pound. He smiled, glad to be around this pretty, yet strange girl, content in being in her presence.

…

As the two finally exited the forest, still hand in hand, Marco got his first glimpse of town. He stared wide-eyed at the medieval-esce town, taking everything in as Star led him quickly through the crowded streets. It was early morning so people were up and about, heading off to work and preparing for the long day ahead of them. Everywhere Marco looked he saw Mewmans, young and old, pushing past in the crowd, carrying carts of trade able goods and all manors of magical objects for bartering. As Star led him through the chaotic streets, he quickly noticed that everyone was stopping to stare at the two, watching their every move as they passed. Some people even bowed their heads, not daring to look either of them in the eyes. Marco, with his limited knowledge of Mewman ways, was unsure if this was normal behavior but he felt quite uncomfortable being the center of everyone's attention. Star didn't seem bothered, though, staring straight ahead, keeping a firm grip on Marco as she pushed her way through the crowded streets, giving everyone she passed a small smile.

Soon the crowd began to thin as Star led him to the very edge of her town, now walking along a small dirt road leading to a very large building, towering over the rest of the village. Marco stared in disbelief as he slowly took in the complex, beauty of Star's home . Unlike the small houses and huts the other Mewmans had seemed to live in, this house was huge, a large purple structure towering over all to see, its regal beauty almost blinding, its towers and pillars reaching so high, clouds covered some of them. A wall also wound its way around the structure, separating it even more from the lesser buildings in town, the only entrance in being a large gate, which the two were currently heading towards. There was no doubt about it, this building was a castle.

"You live in a castle?" Marco asked, unable to believe he and Star shared this rather strange thing in common.

"Of course," Star replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "Princesses usually do."

"Wait! You're a princess!" Marco exclaimed, suddenly in awe of the blond girl his hand was currently intertwined with. Well, more than he already was.

"Yep, I'm Star Butterfly, magical princess of Mewni!" she said, giving her free arm a wave in front of her for emphasis, her wand creating a rainbow over the two.

"Whoa," Marco whispered in awe, a grin on his face, not noticing the rainbow behind the two catching fire as they walked.

"So should I bow or something?" Marco asked, suddenly unsure what to do next, now that he was in the presence of royalty.

"Nah, you don't have to be so formal with me, Marco," she said giving him a gentle push. "We're friends."

"We are?" Marco asked in confusion, unsure how they could be friends after they had just met.

"Of course," Star replied, almost sounding offended at the idea of them not being.

"Huh," Marco said softly, deep in thought. "I've never had a friend before," he admitted, looking at Star with the corner of his eye. Star gave him a look of sympathy.

"Well, now you do!" she exclaimed, squeezing his hand a little tighter, giving him a brain-numbing smile, which Marco returned.

"Now come on!" Star shouted, taking off at a faster pace, practically dragging Marco behind her.

…

Once the two reached the gates, Marco saw two guards standing at attention, holding large spears up, staring out at the rest of Mewni with blank, alert stares. They looked down at the two, hearing them approach quickly shouting, "Halt, who goes there!" They crossed their spears, glaring down at them, coldly. Marco, suddenly frightened, moved a little behind the girl, watching the two guards wearily.

Star, however, didn't seem put off at all over the two's behavior. "Hi Jak! Hi Dex!" she yelled, waving at the two with a smile.

"Princess Star!" the two exclaimed, immediately dropping to their knees, Marco jumping at the sudden action. "We're so sorry for not recognizing you right away, Your Majesty!" Jak said, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Did you enjoy your trip into town?" Dex asked, giving her a smile. Jak immediately hit his friend and Dex recovered, staring at the ground once again.

"Yep," Star said, giving a cute little nod. "And I found a friend. He'll be staying with us for a while, right Marco?" She turned to Marco, who stiffened as the guard's narrowing eyes came to rest on him and him alone. Marco gulped and hid further behind Star.

The two guards raised their eyebrows in confusion, turning to Star. "He's shy," she explained. The two exchanged a look, before shrugging, the gates suddenly swinging open behind them. They stood at attention on either side, giving a salute, as they provided passage into the castle. Star dragged her new friend past the two, the boy eying them wearily, keeping himself as close to Star as he could.

The two continued on into the castle, hand in hand, the two guards watching them all the way.

Jak sighed turning to his companion. "Another orphan," he said, shaking his head in sadness. "What's this world coming to?"

"I know, right," Dex said, shaking his head in unison with his partner. "Those rotten monsters just never seem to stop. I don't know why the King and Queen don't just kill all of them and get it over with already."

"Well at least the princess is still doing her part, bless her soul."

"Yeah, keeping everyone's spirits up, taking in all those orphans, and now with the King and Queen off trying to resolve the monster issues, she's practically ruling Mewni all by herself."

"And don't forget she just inherited the wand!"

"Man, that's gotta be tough."

"I don't know how she does it."

"Thank goodness for the princess, that's all I gotta say."

The two were silent for a moment, each lost deep in their own thoughts.

"Seems like Star's the only light left in Mewni," Jak whispered, Dex nodding in agreement.

…

Star left Marco alone in his new room, while she went and got the doctor. The moment the two parted, the door closing shut behind the blond, Marco felt lonely, already missing his new friend. Marco had no way to explain it but he felt a longing for her, wanting desperately to be in her company.

Marco sighed and looked around his new room. It was a fairly comfortable layout, the furniture well-furnished and, unlike his old room, it was more bright and colorful, giving him a warm, cozy feeling. Marco could see himself easily considering this place home, his worry and tension suddenly melting off of him, as his exhaustion finally caught up with him, his body still sore from the extremely eventful last twelve hours.

Marco walked over to the bed, running a hand along the comforter, admiring how soft if felt under his touch. He let out a deep yawn, feeling his whole swaying, barely able to keep himself standing. The bed suddenly felt like it was calling to him, begging him to envelop himself in its warmth. Marco did his best to stay awake, but he suddenly had no more energy to spare. He fell onto the bed, losing himself in its warmth and comfort, as he drifted off to sleep.

…

"He's right in here, doctor," Star said, leading the doctor into Marco's new room. As they entered Star was surprised to find Marco was already asleep, his whole face peaceful, his body spread out on the bed, on top of his covers. The two just stared at the boy for a moment, an awkward silence filling the air.

"My," the doctor finally said, adjusting his glasses. "He must have been through quite the ordeal."

Star remained silent, just staring at the boy, as the doctor quickly went to work, examining his patient. He took his blood pressure, checked his heart and lungs, examined his scars, the whole process. After a while, Star took a seat at his desk, watching the medical professional at work. After about ten minutes or so the doctor finished his inspection as he began to put his instruments away. His movements were slow and Star noticed he seemed very worried about something. She felt fear overtake her as she slowly rose from the chair, coming to stand beside the distressed medic, with a questioning gaze.

"So doctor," Star began slowly, her face the picture of worry as she addressed the doctor. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, he should be fine, he'll be sore for a while, but the injuries should heal in a few days. I'll prescribe some medicine to help with the aching," the doctor spoke in a very professional manner, keeping his voice steady as he continued to pack his tools away into the small leather bag. But his face was still clearly unsettled, his professional demeanor still not able to mask his obvious fears.

"But..." Star said, urging the doctor to continue.

The doctor turned to her, he seemed hesitant but finally, he snapped his bag shut and asked, "How exactly did you say the boy got his injuries?"

Star was surprised by the question but she quickly replied, "He... fell out of a tree. Why, is there something else wrong with him?" Her voice cracked with fear, as she held the wand tightly up to her face, her eyes brimming with worried tears.

"While there are signs of simple scratches that could be caused by what you said, it's this one that worries me," the doctor said pointing to a large scratch on Marco's arm, the one Star had spotted earlier. She looked at it closer, unlike the others it seemed to be in a more identical pattern, three long marks running across his skin, but Star saw little wrong with it. "What about it?"

"There is also one almost identical to it on his back. But from the looks of them they weren't caused from his falling. They seem to be... claw marks."

"Claw marks!" Star screamed, before putting a hand over her mouth as Marco shifted uncomfortably in his sleep.

"It would seem so," the doctor continued, adjusting his glasses.

"Like from a monster," Star said, fear lacing her voice. Every Mewman knew that the monsters were dangerous killers. With every passing year they became more violent and destructive, openly opposing and killing them. No one was safe: man, women, or child. Star looked at the sleeping boy and couldn't help but fill a need to protect him, his mysterious past making her sympathetic and concerned. He had said he lost his parents, was this how. Had they died at the hands of horrid monster.

"Not just any monster," the doctor said, his tone dark and Star waited with a held breath. "These claw marks could only be the work of Toffee."

Star felt sick. "T-Toffee." Every Mewman knew the name of the monster's feared leader. Fourteen years ago he had started a personal assault on the Mewmans and had killed an unimaginable number of them, pronouncing that they would pay for the deeds of the past. Everyone had grown to fear his name, any who faced him were guaranteed death. "But... that's impossible. No Mewman has ever come face to face with Toffee and lived."

"I know, it confuses me too," the doctor said, removing his glasses. "But I've examined hundred of bodies and the markings match up perfectly. It is definitely Toffee. I have no doubts." Star went silent looking at the young boy, sleeping peacefully next to her. He looked so sweet and innocent, it made Star sick to think that he had not only lost his parents, to the monster's, but that he had come face to face with Toffee himself.

"It's also possible that the trauma could be causing memory loss, and from what you've told me this seems to be the case, it's best to distance him from anything that might trigger uncomfortable memories, best to allow them to come back on their own." Star nodded but remained silent, staring at the boy. "On the other hand," the doctor continued, more hesitant and Star turned to him. "He is the only Mewman to ever encounter Toffee and live, whatever information he has could prove-"

"No!" Star exclaimed, suddenly making the doctor jump, Marco moving in his sleep once again. "Marco has been through enough," she continued, more quietly this time, but her voice still intense. "He doesn't need everyone getting into his head, making him remember things he doesn't want to." Star's voice drifted off, her face suddenly sad, her eyes lost in a distant memory. "Nobody deserves to have their worst moments thrown back at them."

The doctor watched the distraught princess realizing his mistake. "Forgive me, princess," he said, bowing. "That was unacceptable behavior."

Star gave him a wain smile, her eyes still glossed over with hurtful memories. "I-It's okay," she said, her voice strained with hurt. The doctor, feeling it best to leave, rose once again and exited the room taking his bag with him. Star called to him just as he began stepping out the door and he turned back to his future ruler.

"Keep this between us. This conversation doesn't leave this room," Star said, authority in her voice.

The doctor nodded. "Of course, princess," he said, before closing the door, leaving Star and Marco alone. Star's eyes remained glossed over with pain, as she looked down at the snoozing Marco. She couldn't help but smile at him, finding the boy irresistibly cute. He seemed to be content in his sleep, a smile never leaving his lips. Star walked over to him, her facial features relaxing as she watched the boy breathing softly. After a moment, she reached a hand down and pulled the covers over him, tucking them in around the boy's slumbering form. Her hand lingered near his face and she gently smoothed out his messy hair. Unknowingly, the boy pulled into her touch and she felt a sudden urge to kiss his cheek. But she held it back, they had just met after all, she didn't want to rush things. Still there was something different about him, something Star wanted to learn more about. She felt close to him already, content in his presence, despite the fact they had known each other for less than an hour. But he was so easy to get along with, his wide-eyed innocence making him comfortable to be near, her normally forced cheer, feeling far less forced the more she was around the boy. Star wanted to spend more time with Marco, she wanted to get to know him, felt herself seeking his friendship.

Finally, she leaned in closer to him, whispering softly into his ear, "Don't worry Marco, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll take care of you." Star's eyes shimmered as the boy subconsciously smiled at her words, not noticing her twin hearts shining bright pink in the early morning light. "I promise."

 **Well that does it for me, I'm going to bed. Have a great month and I will see you all again on my next update. Love you all! Bye!**

 **SJMT shipper- Well hello again, friend. Good to hear your overly excited voice. I'm so glad you are enjoying the story, I hope you enjoyed the sailing of my favorite ship, Starco!**

 **Ohhh, so that's why you wrote calm, well I get it, I'm a bit of a fangirl myself and I totally understand the fangirling process. But, come on, I'm sure your friend isn't all that crazy. *looks three comments later* Oh. :/ Well anyways, always good to hear from you and your friend!**

 **Nameless Believer- Aww, thanks! I spent so much time on describing stuff, especially the scene with Marco and Toffee and I'm glad it payed off! I do feel almost bad for putting Marco through so much suffering in that chapter, but it had to be done, for the plot!**

 **ssboodlal- Yeah, I was really excited when I first came up with the idea for this, because of all the possibilities that arose with it. And boy do I have plans. *laughs evilly* But seriously, Marco's personality was so much fun to create and I really do love how it turned out. As for his future plot arrangements, well we'll just have to wait and see how those play out!**

 **FANGIRL mayham- Hi new friend, glad to meet you! I can tell you and SJMT are gonna be great fans to have around. And you are welcome to chat here anytime you want! I certainty enjoyed reading your comments! And I'm glad to know your enjoying! Though I am shocked that my stories are causing so much property damage. I thought I was gonna have to provide Stardom insurance, but I didn't think it would be this soon! Oh well, here have another chapter to help tide you over, I'm gonna go hide in the corner so I don't get hit with any flying debris when you destroy your house. Oh and I better give you a hug so you don't feel left out. *HUGS***


	4. Hoodies and Headbands

Chapter 3: Hoodies and Headbands

 **Ahh, it's good to be back. Hello everyone, here is the newest chapter of Light of the Sun and Stars. This one was a lot of fun and I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you so much for all your favorites, follows, and comments, they just mean so much to me! Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the Forces of Evil and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

Marco slowly opened his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun on his tanned skin. He let out a deep yawn, trying to shrink farther under the warm covers, but he felt like something heavy was on top of him and it was disturbing his sleep. He sat up, trying to see what it was that was intruding on his peaceful slumber, until he came face to face with a dark haired girl. She hissed at him, reveling vampiric-like fangs and Marco screamed trying to scramble away from the girl, but in his rush he slipped and fell off the bed. He hit the floor with a loud thump, his body aching due to its contact with the firm ground.

The girl turned, staring down at him from her perch on the bed, a smooth smirk on her face, her fangs shining in the afternoon light. Her skin was tanned like Marco's and she had messy black hair tucked into a brown beanie, her eyes a slightly darker shade of brown. She had small skull cheek marks that glowed green when the light caught them. She wore a plain, olive green shirt beneath a turquoise blue jacket and a modestly short brown skirt, that matched her beanie and stylish brown boots. Though she didn't seem all that intimidating, the look in her eyes was giving Marco the creeps as she continued to stare at him.

"W-Who are you?" Marco squeaked, trying to back away from the crazy girl.

"Doesn't matter who I am," the girl said, nonchalantly.

"What?!" Marco screeched in confusion.

"Who you are, now that's the question," she continued raising a finger in the air, ignoring Marco's outburst. "You could be a thief here to steal from the Crown Princess of Mewni."

"Theif?" Marco whimpered.

"Or, maybe your an assassin here to kill our beloved princess," she added, a glare settling on her face, her fangs still visible beneath her frown.

"Assassin!" Marco squeaked, fear tightening its hold on his throat, making normal speech nearly impossible.

"Either way, I'm gonna have to kill you," she said, calmly.

Marco panicked as the girl got off the bed and began walking over to him, her fangs clearly seen poking out from beneath her upper lip and Marco shuddered. "Wait no, stop!" he pleaded, waving his hands frantically in the air, while trying to scoot farther back, as the scary girl stalked closer. "There's been a mistake!"

"Janna!" a voice yelled and the two both turned to another girl, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, glaring at the girl towering over the shaking Marco. She had short, light-colored hair, almost white, with a single green stripe running down the left side. Her green eyes were wide and sparkling, her confidence radiating off of her even in the tense moment. She wore a white shirt with, dark green sleeves, a small seashell necklace hanging loosely around her neck, easily noticeable in front of the white top. She wore blue jean shorts coupled by long, white socks with green stripes that matched her sleeves, followed by light-blue sneakers. Marco looked at the girl with curiosity as she continued to glare from the doorway.

"Stop scaring him," she scolded, her eyes narrowing. Marco's eyes darted between the two girls for a moment, trying to make sense of this strange situation.

"What, he's new." the girl named Janna defended, raising her arms innocently, all traces of malice gone from her voice. "It's my job to scare him."

The other girl sighed, before walking over and helping Marco to his feet. "Sorry about that, dude. Janna's bark is worse than her bite."

"Wait, she was gonna bite me!" Marco panicked, quickly covering his neck with his hands.

The light-haired girl gave him a skeptic look, while Janna rolled her eyes at the boy's naivety. "Nah, the fangs are totally fake..." Janna reassured, her voice attempting to sound soothing, despite the fact it did nothing to assure Marco in the slightest. "Unless you don't want them to be," Janna added, waving her eyebrows at the confused boy, who took a step back so he now had the light-headed girl between him and the strange one.

"Ignore her," the other girl said, putting a hand on Marco's shoulder drawing his attention. She gave him a soothing smile, her eyes bright with cool enthusiasm. "I'm Jackie by the way. Jackie Lynn Thomas." She extended her hand to Marco, who eyed it for a moment before remembering that that was how you greeted people here. He shook her hand, returning the smile, though not as confident as Jackie's.

"Marco," he said, keeping an eye on the fanged girl out of the corner of his eye. But she seemed distracted, as she had pulled out a small, rectangular device from her pocket, which she kept poking and staring at, the small screen lighting up her face. So, Marco shifted his attention back to his "rescuer". He cocked his head to the side, noticing something off about the girl.

"You don't have any cheek marks," he said, pointing at her face. And it was true, though the girl's face was coated in tiny freckles, there was no sign of any special markings anywhere on her. But she didn't seemed fazed by Marco's statement, keeping a cool smile on her speckled face.

"Oh, that's because I'm human," she responded, nonchalantly.

"Human?" Marco, repeated, the word sounding weird on his tongue.

Jackie laughed at the thoughtful look on the boy's face, before explaining, "I'm from Earth."

"Ohhhh," Marco said, remembering hearing about Mewni's closest allied dimension, the monsters often whispering about it when they thought Marco wasn't listening. He had questioned Buff Frog about it and he had explained that Earth and Mewni shared a long personal history with each other. They hadn't started off as allies, apparently, as Mewnian's magical capabilities made them appear far superior to the magicless Earthlings, putting bad blood between the two cultures. At one point, Mewni had attempted to take over the backwards planet, but had been surprised by the Earthlings strong will and heavy advancements in technology, none of them able to trully defeat the stubborn humans. So they had ended the fighting, becoming two united worlds, providing and trading with one another, their two worlds opening up their borders to each other, travel between the two dimensions frequent. Though Mewni still leaned heavily on its magic and Earth its science, the two had no doubt influenced one another's way of life. Or so Buff Frog had said.

"Oh, good Marco, your up," came a voice from the doorway and he turned to see Star, smiling happily at them.

"Hey there, Star," Jackie said.

"'Sup," Janna said in a monotone, her face still buried in her device.

"Oh and you've met Jackie and Janna, too," she said, clapping her hands together in joy. Then she looked to Janna before saying, in a meaningful way, "I hope they behaved themselves."

Janna looked up from her phone, to see Star and Jackie glaring at her, while Marco kept a frightened eye on her, keeping his distance.

"Hey, that is behaved for me," she responded with a shrug, making Jackie sigh.

"Yeah, she's kinda right," Jackie agreed.

Star shook her head, before the smile returned once again. "Well as long as it all worked out," she said, the grin never leaving her face and Marco couldn't help but notice that there seemed something off about it now. "Marco's going to be staying with us for a while so I want you two to be on your best behavior and make him feel welcome, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Jackie said, having heard a similar conversation with one of Star's servants not an hour ago, when she had been informed a new orphan was in the castle.

"So, Star," Janna said, putting an arm around the princess. "Where'd you meet mister observant over there?" She gestured over to where Marco stood and they all followed her gaze. Marco seeing all the attention now in his direction, turned to see who it was they were talking about, only to find himself staring at nothing.

Star smiled at his cuteness, before turning to her beanie-wearing friend. "We met this morning... while I was, ummm," she drifted off into silence, biting her bottom lip as she tried to think of a good excuse.

"She was using magic!" Marco exclaimed, sounding super excited as he remembered the impressive display from that morning. Star felt her cheeks glow red as Jackie and Janna's stares burned into her skin, not daring to look either of them in the eye.

"Magic practice, again?" Jackie said with a encouraging smile. "That's awesome! Good for you, Star!"

"Did you at least burn another house down like last time?" Janna said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"No, no," Star stammered, her voice a shy whisper, still feeling nervous as her secret became common knowledge among her two closest friends. "I did it out in the forest this time, where no one could see?"

"Aww, lame," Janna huffed in disappointment. "What's the point if nothing gets destroyed?"

"Well she did destroy a lot of trees," Marco pointed out, before ducking behind Jackie again as Janna's focus came to rest on him.

"Okay, can we quit talking about it now?!" Star exclaimed, her whole face flushed with embarrassment, as she pleaded with her friends to please drop the subject.

Janna shut her mouth, seeing Star in obvious distress, her normally cool confidence fading as she realized she had gone too far this time and she had no idea how to fix her mistake. Marco felt guilt gnaw at him, as he saw how upset Star clearly was over this. He couldn't help but beat himself up for upsetting the girl who had been so nice to him. Jackie, however, put a comforting hand on Star's shoulder. "Hey, there's no need to be ashamed, Star. Everyone knows your new to the wand, no one expects you to get it, right away," she said in a comforting tone.

Star let out a breath, all of her stress melting off of her. She knew what Jackie was saying was true. She had only had the wand for a little over a month, but it still unnerved her to know that she hadn't fully mastered control of it yet. Her mother had assured her that it would take time, but Star felt impatient. The people of Mewni looked up to her and needed to see her as a strong leader who would carry them forward in this dark time, not some happy-go-lucky teenager who couldn't use her wand without unwantingly setting something on fire.

"Your right, thanks Jackie," she said, with a thankful smile. Jackie gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before releasing her hold on the blond.

"No problem."

Star, seemed to relax, her smile returning as she turned to Marco, walking over and grabbing his hand, the boy's face instantly turning red. "All right, come on Marco, we're off for town," she said with a cute smile. Behind her, Jackie and Janna shared a look as they watched the two teen's interactions, their critical eyes not missing Marco's blushing face or Star's shimmering eyes.

"We are?" Marco asked, his brain suddenly having trouble functioning due to Star's soft hands wrapped around his own.

"You guys are going to town," Jackie asked in confusion. "Don't you have other business to attend to? Like I don't know, running Mewni."

Star turned to Jackie, her face in shock as she seemed to remember that there were still other people in the room besides Marco. But she recovered quickly, responding, "Well, yes, but it can wait. Since Marco is going to be staying with us he's going to need some essentials."

"Can't you just ask one of the servants to do it?" Janna skeptically asked with crossed arms.

Star thought for a moment before answering. "Well I guess I could, but Marco's well-being is at the top of my list and I have to make sure our new guest has everything he needs to be comfortable."

Janna huffed. "What a waste of royal power."

"So wait, what exactly are we doing?" Marco asked, looking around at the three girls for conformation.

Star turned to him with an excited look on her face. "The best thing in the world..." Star exclaimed, her voice as dramatic as possible, before she quickly pumped a fist int the air and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Shopping!"

…

Marco looked around the bustling streets of Mewni in a silent awe, admiring all the sights that the town had to offer. Star walked silently beside him, smiling to herself at Marco's giddiness, his head turning this way and that as every little movement caught the boy's wandering eye, barely able to keep himself walking straight. Behind the two were Star's escorts, their arms loaded to the brim with boxes and packages of the already purchased items, the containers reaching so high that they towered over the burly men, who were unable to be recognized from beneath the wrapped gifts. It may have looked like over-kill but Star was satisfied with her purchases, happy to be spoiling the boy who had been through so much trauma. In her opinion, he deserved every bit of money spent on him, even if the rest of Mewni wouldn't agree.

Marco had been instantly hooked on the shopping spree, picking out item after item, his adorable grin never leaving his face. Star had just smiled and handed over the money, ignoring the often skeptical looks of her critical valet, letting the boy enjoy his taste of freedom for as long as he wanted.

But now it seemed their little spree was ending, as they made their way back toward the castle, with a satisfying bundle of essentials for Marco's stay. The boy looked around him, taking in the sights when something red flashed across his vision, making him stop in his tracks.

Star didn't notice as she continued on ahead, her sights of the towering walls of her home, chatting happily to the boy she believed to still be beside her. "So looks like you got everything you got everything you wanted, huh?" She turned only to see a blank, empty space where her new friend had once been. "Marco?" she asked in confusion, looking around for the missing boy.

She spotted him a little ways off, looking in the window of a little shop, his eyes shining with wonder, mesmerized with whatever fantastic sight had caught his eye. Star walked over to him, quickly reading the sign hanging above the store: "Quest Buy Mini-mall".

Star came up beside Marco, the boy not even acknowledging her presence, still caught in his vegetated stupor. She looked into the little promotional window for any signs of what it was that had captured Marco's attention so much, hoping there wasn't any real hypnotic devices involved, forcing hypnotized customers to buy their most expensive item. That was illegal now after all.

But as far as she could tell there was no foal play involved as she asked curiously, "See anything you like?"

Marco didn't even look at her as he nodded, pressing his index finger up against the glass, whispering softly, "What's that?"

Star followed his pointing finger, seeing the object of his affection: a hoodie. Just a plain, red hoodie. Star looked at it carefully, sizing it up quickly. Though it seemed plain at first, it's bright red color immediately caught your eye, its simple beauty appealing to even the most cryptic eye. Even amongst the most fantastic sights from an untold number of dimensions the hoodie held it own, embracing its plainness, giving it a simple, yet pleasing look. Star could tell instantly that the hoodie would look great on the boy.

"That's a hoodie," Star explained to him. "It's an Earth clothing."

Marco's eyes seemed to grow even wider as he continued to stare at it as if it were some kind of unknown treasure. It seemed to be love at first sight. Star held back a smile as she offered Marco her hand. "Wanna try it on?" she asked and he seemed thrilled, finally turning to her with shining eyes.

"Can I?" Marco asked in awe, taking her hand in his own.

"Of course," she said, leading him over to the entrance, opening the door with her free hand.

The little bell over the door rang and the store manager, a sloth, let out an irritated sigh. They had just finished their afternoon rush and things had finally settled down enough for him to relax and enjoy a little peace. But of course, the seemed too good to be true. He looked up from his magazine to see two teenagers entering the store, hand in hand, gazing around in intrigue at the various wares and items that had been collected from many different dimensions. Great just what he needed... tourists.

The manager cleared his throat, waiting for the two to respond, but they just continued to browse the items in curious silence. He sighed in annoyance, before clearing his throat again, louder than before, this time managing to capture the two's attention as they turned to him in surprise. He set the magazine down, giving the two a blank stare. "Can I help you?"

The blond girl stepped forward, smiling at the sloth softly. "My friend here would like to try on one of your red hoodies, please?" she said, gesturing to the window.

The sloth manager blinked in unamusement, trying to hold back another sigh. "What size would that be, miss?"

"Oh," Star gasped in surprise, turning to Marco with a questioning gaze. He shrugged and she bit her lip, turning to back to the manager. "Umm, we're not really sure," she said hesitantly. "Maybe we could... try some on?"

The manager sighed, unable to catch himself in time, as he stood up from his desk, walking slowly over to a pile of paperwork and files, just underneath his desk. He slowly sorted through the files, as Star and Marco leaned over the counter-top curiously, watching the sloth at work. Finally, he found the right one, pulling it out, squinting at the tiny lettering. He looked over at the two still bent over the counter, who gave him curious looks. He walked over to them, saying in an irritated manner, "The hoodies are located off to your left in clothing." He gestured in the direction with a clawed finger. "Right under Earth fashion."

"Aren't you going to help us?" Marco asked and the sloth gave him a dead-panned stare.

Star began pushing Marco off in the direction of clothing, giving the sloth a sheepish smile, quickly saying, "Thank you!"

The sloth watched the two go, before picking up his magazine once again, scoffing to himself. "Tourists."

…

Marco skipped happily in front of Star as they approached the castle gates, Marco decked out in his new hoodie. Star's escorts walked behind the two, a respectful distance away, still holding the boxes from the long shopping trip. Marco seemed blissfully unaware of the world turning, humming softly to himself as he walked, his eyes bright and shining with wonder. Star just seemed content, her face peaceful.

The two guards watched them approach, Jak elbowing his companion. "Hey, check it out, Dex, it's the princess," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Dex sighed. "Yeah, I can see that," he said, putting a hand to his face.

"What do you think she was doing in town, again?" Jak continued, staring quizzically at their future ruler.

"Well if I had to take a guess, I'd probably say she's been shopping," Dex said, with obvious sarcasm.

"Huh," Jak said, cocking his head to the side. "Yeah, I can see it." Dex face-palmed, just as the princess finished her approach to the gates.

"Hey guys," Star said, stopping in front of them and they immediately bowed in respect as their princess addressed them. "Welcome back, Your Highness," they said in unison and Star gave them a grin. "You can drop the whole 'Your Highness' bit. Just Star is fine."

"Unlikely, Your Highness," Dex said and Jak nodded, both keeping their heads bowed.

Star sighed. "Worth a try," she whispered, more to herself than to the others. She turned to Marco who was still admiring his hoodie and had yet to notice they had arrived at the castle. "Come on, Marco."

Marco turned to her and quickly ran to catch up, as Star walked past the bowing guards, the gates now open wide to provide entry. The boy walked past the two guards, not nearly as nervous as before, his mind still on his new fashion trend. "Nice hoodie," Jak said to the boy, who gave him confident smile.

"Thanks," he said, before running after Star. The two watched as the princess, the hooded boy, and her entourage entered the castle together, before turning to each other once again. "Well he seemed completely different," Jak said, unable to believe the shy, shaking boy from that morning was now the confident, if not absent minded, boy that they had just seen.

"Well, that's our princess for you," Dex said, smiling to himself. "Bringing out the best in people."

"Yeah," Jak agreed. There was a short moment of silence, before Jak suddenly asked, "Did she seem different to you?"

"What do you mean?" Dex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know she just seemed... happier."

"It's probably just your imagination," Dex said, looking back out at the road in front of them, standing at attention once again. Jak thought for a moment, looking back at the castle doors, still remaining shut, before he turned his attention back to the road as well, hesitantly whispering, "Yeah, your probably right."

…

The moment the two friends entered the castle, Star was whisked away by some important looking figures questioning where she had been and listing off the many tasks she still had to perform before the day was over. Marco seemed uncomfortable as he was quickly brushed aside and his new friend was dragged away. But Star didn't seem put off, simply following them in silence, her face blank. She turned back to Marco giving him a smile and a wave, which he returned.

He waited until the group was out of sight, before turning on his heels and heading off for his room. "Um, sir?" Marco turned to the guards that up until now he had forgotten had been there. "Your room is that way," one of them said, gesturing to the opposite hallway. Marco gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Umm, maybe you better lead the way," he said awkwardly and the guards nodded, walking resolutely down the hallway, Marco following close behind.

The guard's dropped the boxes in Marco's room as some more servants, maids, quickly unpacked his things, finding everything a home and tidying up the nearly spotless room. Marco just watched in silence, sitting down on his bed, until some of the maids gave him a glare, shooing him away so they could put on his new sheets.

The servants worked fast and efficiently, while Marco just stood in the middle of his room awkwardly, waiting for them to finish. And as quickly as they had entered, they departed, bowing low to the ground as they left. Marco heard the door slam shut behind him as he took in his new living space. Everything had been organized and cleaned, all of his new things, put neatly in their selected places. Marco was impressed with their work as he walked over to his bed, running his hands along the soft, red sheets, a content smile on his face. He looked over his new bookcase and inspected every drawer in his dresser and desk, looking over each new item with curiosity.

Finally, he looked in his closet, his eyes widening immensely as they came to rest on the eleven identical red hoodies hanging neatly in his closet. He felt tears in his eyes as he looked at the small little treasure trove, touched by Star's kindness. Toffee had never treated him this kindly and Buff Frog had always done his best, but Toffee was quick to shoot down any attempt his father might have had to spoil him. Star had done so much for him in just the short time he had known her and Marco suddenly felt a burning desire to do something for her, something to thank her for all she had done for him. But what? He hadn't known her for all that long (for less than a day, actually) and knew literally nothing about what it was she liked or would want.

Marco thought for a moment, before remembering there were two people Marco knew who would have a good idea of what it was Star would like.

…

"Janna have you seen my skateboard?" Jackie asked her friend and roommate as she dug around in her closet. Janna, who was sitting comfortably on her bed, quickly replied, "Nope," her head remaining buried in her book on 19th Century Earth poetry. Jackie sat up from her messy closet, putting her hands on her hips. "Well where could it have gone, then?"

"Not a clue," Janna replied, with a bored tone, as she flipped to the next page of her book.

Jackie gave her a knowing look. "You know, I seem to remember someone asking to borrow my skateboard the other day."

"I remember someone saying no," Janna replied, emotionlessly. Jackie opened her mouth to retort until there was a soft knock at the door. She turned to Janna with a glare. "We'll discuss this later," she said, standing.

Janna shrugged, whispering, "Whatever," her eyes never leaving her book. Jackie opened the door and smiled eagerly seeing the face of their new house guest.

"Marco, hey!" she greeted, cheerfully.

"Hi," Marco said, shyly, giving a tiny wave.

"Come in," Jackie said, standing aside and opening the door wider so the boy could pass inside more easily.

"Thanks," Marco said, stepping inside, looking around the room. It was larger than his own, but then that made sense considering that the two roomed together, the room literally split in half, with two beds, closets, and so on. But the differences in the two's personalities couldn't be more apparent, one side reflecting Janna's love of all things creepy and disturbing and Jackie's side reflecting her love of sports.

"Nice hoodie." Marco turned to see Janna staring at him and he gave her an uncomfortable smile, still slightly frightened of the girl.

"Oh yeah," Jackie said, just noticing his change in wardrobe. "It looks good on you, Marco."

Marco looked proud at their praise, a confident smile spreading on his lips. "Thanks."

"Yeah, it looks 'blood' red," Janna said with a mysterious tint to her voice and Marco's smile vanished, looking frightened once again.

Jackie put a hand on his shoulder, rolling her eyes and giving him a reassuring smile. "So, what did you come here to tell us, Marco?" Jackie asked.

"Oh, umm," Marco said, still staring at Janna suspiciously, before shaking his head so he could focus once again. "I wanted to ask your help with something."

"What's that?" Jackie said, slightly confused. Marco took a deep breath before quickly blurting his answer as fast as he could, the words just tumbling out without his control.

"Well, Star was really nice getting me all these things, like the hoodies and the bed sheets and everything, and I just wanted to make it up to her so I thought I could get her something. But I don't know what she likes and I was hoping maybe you could help me because you know her better than I do." He took a few deep breaths, trying to regain his air supply as Jackie and Janna just stared at him in shock.

The two shared a look really quick, before Jackie asked, "You really want to get her something?" Marco nodded vigorously, before going off on a tangent once again.

"Yeah. She's just been so sweet and everything. She's so nice and funny and pretty and-" Marco's voice cut off as his cheeks turned bright red. He looked down at the floor, a distant look on his face. His eyes seemed to shine as he thought of the girl. Jackie studied his face carefully for a moment, taking in the look of hidden joy on his face. She thought it over, this boy was new but he seemed well-meaning, his naivety making it hard to say no. Still, Star had become a pretty private person recently and she wasn't sure how she would react if Jackie gave Marco the gift she had in mind. But, Jackie also knew that the fact that Star was acting like such a private person meant that she was upset about something, something she had yet to tell her or Janna, her two closest friends. She suspected it had to do with all the new pressures that had just been thrown on her, but until Star talked about it, she had no way of knowing.

Plus, she couldn't stop thinking about that smile she had given Marco earlier that afternoon. She had seemed genuinely happy, more so than Jackie had seen her in, well, years. For whatever reason, Marco seemed to bring out the best in Star and he might just be what Jackie had been looking for.

Finally, she took a deep breath, before she said, "Well there is one thing." Janna gave her a suspicious look, which Jackie ignored keeping her eyes on Marco. The boy didn't notice this little exchange, though, smiling excitedly at the idea of accomplishing his goals. "Really? What?!" he exclaimed.

Jackie, ignoring the look her roommate continued to give her, walking over to her bed and reached underneath pulling out a small, white box from underneath. It was coated in dust and it looked to Marco like it hadn't been disturbed for several years. Jackie carried the box over to her desk, carefully wiping the object clean.

Marco came up beside the girl, looking at the box intensely. Jackie slowly lifted the lid and Marco squinted, trying to stare inside at the box's contents. The box was more or less empty except for a small headband, that barely took up half of the box's space. The hairband was red with two little spikes looking like horns sticking up at the top. Marco examined the object curiously, tilting his head to the side. "A headband?" Marco questioned.

"Yep," Jackie said. "It used to belong to Star. But she stopped wearing it a few years ago. So rather than letting her throw it out, I kept it. Thought she might like it back someday." Her voice grew soft at the end, but Marco didn't notice, his focus on nothing but the small, little headpiece.

"And you're sure she'll like it?" he asked, turning to Jackie for conformation.

"Positive," she said with a confident nod. That was good enough for Marco.

"Okay, so what do I wrap it with?" he asked, looking around the room for supplies.

"Got you covered!" Marco and Jackie looked to see Janna over by Jackie's closet, smiling with a mischievous grin. Before the two could question her methods she tapped the side of the closet and a secret compartment opened up, reveling a hidden stash within. The two walked over, looking inside Janna's hideaway, all manors of things scattered and strewn about within. Marco's eyes shined with wonder as they came to rest on the colorful wrapping paper and ribbon.

"Thanks!" he screamed in excitement, grabbing the paper and running over to the box. Jackie, however, gazed into her closet in horror.

"Janna, what is all this stuff?" she said in a questioning tone.

Janna shrugged, smugly replying, "Just some stuff I found."

"Janna you didn't!" Jackie groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What?!" Janna exclaimed defensively, crossing her arms. "Not like anyone was using this stuff. It was all just... lying around."

"Is that my skateboard?!" Jackie screamed, pointing out her most valuable possession half-buried beneath Janna's junk.

"Oops, how did that get in there?" Janna said, deep in thought.

"Janna!"

"What?! Technically it's still in your closet."

"Oh my gosh! Why is all this stuff in my closet?!"

"Cause I ran out of room in mine, duh."

"Umm, guys." The two friends stopped their argument turning to the boy. He was wrapped completely head to toe in the colorful red ribbon, his arms suspended above his head, his body twisted at a weird angel. He looked at them with a fearful look, quickly squeaking, "Help!"

…

Star let out a deep sigh, rubbing her sore shoulder softly. She had been signing piles and piles of paperwork for hours, having lost feeling in her hand hours ago. She held her shoes in loosely in her less-sore hand, letting her aching feet rest for a moment as she quietly made her way back to her room. It was now late night and she was eager to get changed and go check on Marco. She hadn't even been able to go and see how he was settling in, which annoyed her to no end. Her thoughts had been on the boy all day, distracting her and making her want to see him even more. But, as always, there was always more work for her to do.

"A princess' job is never done," she murmured, opening the door to her room, flinging her shoes in the general direction of her closet, too tired to see if they made it in. She stretched, walking over to the small couch in her bedroom, and collapsing onto it with a tired sigh. She let her body relax, closing her eyes and just enjoying the peaceful moment, letting out a content sigh as the world seemed to right itself once again. Slowly, unbeknownst to Star, a shadow grew over her face, as a figure rose from behind the couch, eyes trained on the resting girl.

"Hey Star!" Marco screamed with excitement and Star screamed, immediately jumping up so she was now standing on the couch, trying to get a hold of her wand. She fumbled around with it for a few seconds, before holding it straight out, pointed at the source of her fright. Marco froze, hands raised, looking at Star in shock.

"Marco?" Star said, her angry frown quickly switching to confusion as she realized it was the hooded boy in front of her and not some monster.

"Hey," the boy said with a wave, still frozen in shock. Star let out a relieved sigh, dropping her wand to her side and putting a hand over her pounding heart.

"Don't scare me like that," she gasped out.

"Sorry," Marco apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, keeping a hand behind his back. "I guess I just got carried away."

Star sat back down on the couch, relaxing once again. "It's okay. So what brings you to my room?" she said with a smile, patting the seat beside her.

"I got you something," Marco said, moving so he could sit next to her, careful to keep the package out of her sight. Suddenly, he thrust the present out from behind his back and into her hands. "Tada!" he exclaimed, with a wide flourish, giving her the widest smile he could manage.

Star looked at the box with surprise. It was wrapped in pretty, purple paper with a thick red ribbon tied neatly around it and Star could tell that Marco had put a lot of time and detail in making it look just right. "What's this?" she asked, turning the gift over in her hands.

"I got you a present, as a way to say thank you for everything you've done!" Marco explained.

"Oh, Marco," Star said, giving him a sympathetic look. "You didn't have to do that."

"But I wanted to," Marco argued, his face looking so plain and innocent as he smiled at her.

Star smiled back, touched by his thoughtfulness. Marco, quickly losing patience, looked back and forth between Star and the gift eagerly. "Sooo... are you gonna open it?" he asked impatiently, slowly leaning closer.

Star laughed. "Ok, ok. Here we go," she said, carefully removing the red ribbon from around the box's frame. Marco watched with a held breath as she ripped off the paper, slowly removing the lid from the now plain box. She froze staring in at the box's sole item, her face unreadable. Marco's shining eyes jumped back and forth between his friend and her old headband, waiting for a reaction, his every nerve trained on Star's face. Her hand slowly reached into the box, pulling out the red devil-horned headband that had once belonged to her. She stared at the small object in her palm with wide eyes. "Oh, Marco," she breathed, unable to finish the sentence, her voice drifting off into silence. Tears slowly welled up at the very edge of her eyes and Marco felt his heart drop at the sight of her crying, his happy grin vanishing in a flash.

"Oh, no," he groaned, making Star turn to him in shock. "You don't like it." Marco's voice was the saddest thing Star had ever heard, his normally cute face morphing to one of pure depression.

"I'm sorry," he continued, reaching a hand out to take the present away. "I'll just... take that back and-"

"Thank you."

Marco froze looking at Star in confusion. "What?"

"Thank you, Marco," she whispered, her voice chocked up, but there was a soft smile on her face, her glossy eyes shining with gratitude.

"So you don't... hate it?" Marco asked, hesitantly.

Star let out a small laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes. "No, I love it," she said, putting a hand to her heart. Marco's smile returned and Star couldn't help but feel better just from seeing it. And she found she couldn't resist it anymore. Just as suddenly as before, she wrapped her arms around him, drawing him into a hug. He froze, as her shaky breath tickled his neck. "Thank you so much, Marco," she whispered again, tightening her hold on him.

He finally managed to respond, bringing his own arms around her small frame, burying his head in her neck. And as he enveloped himself in Star's warmth he realized how truly glad he was to be there with Star. Life on Mewni was complicated and sometimes confusing, but it seemed like it was gonna be nice. Especially with Star. He felt some new, unknown emotion every time he was around her and although he didn't know what it was yet, he would do whatever it took to learn more. "Your welcome... Star."

The door to Star's room, which had been cracked open, slowly closed making a barely audible click as the two peepers turning to each other with knowing looks. "See I told you," Jackie said to her friend. "Did you see the way she looked at him?"

"Yeah, yeah," Janna said with a dismissive wave. "Anyone could tell those two have a thing for each other." She leaned against the wall. "I give it a week, before our dear princess has herself a new boyfriend."

"Come on, Janna," Jackie said with an eye roll. "Be realistic. Star isn't super open to people like she used to be. I'd give it a month at the least. Probably more."

Janna huffed. "Coming from the girl who practically pushed those two together. I mean, Star's old headband, really? We both agreed we'd give that to her together and then you just fling it into Mr. Naive's hands. Subtle."

Jackie frowned. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. It's just... I think he's what we've been looking for. I think he's gonna be good for her. That's the happiest I've seen her in so long."

Janna raised an eyebrow at her friend and Jackie quickly added, "All right, how about this? I bet you twenty dollars that Star and Marco will end up together completely on their own in no more than three months, with no outside influence from either of us."

"Your on," Janna said, pulling away from the wall so she was now standing face to face with Jackie. "One month or less and those two are smacking face, guarantee it."

"We'll see," Jackie said holding out her hand to Janna, who shook it firmly, the two with an equally mischievous smirk. Finally, their handshake broke, as they walked off for their room again.

Janna let out a small chuckle. "Easiest twenty bucks I ever made."

 **Wow, I had so much fun with this one! Mostly because I got to introduce my other mains in this story, Jackie and Janna. I love these two so much and I wanted them to have a more centered role in the story. I like how they turned out and am looking forward to giving you more of them soon.**

 **So I have a kind of announcement to make. As of October I'm going to be switching to a different schedule for my fanfics. Light of the S &S will be coming out every 2 weeks and will have most of the time dedicated to it, while my Kingdom Hearts fanfiction is going to come out once a month with no specific date planned. This one seems like a real hit and I'm finding myself wanting to dedicate more time to it. It's got more views and has a more defined idea of where it is going. Plus, you all keep begging me for more and I just can't resist. **

**So hope you like the announcement and next up will be Marco's second day on Mewni, where he struggles to adjust to Mewman life. Well that's it for me, hope you have a great two weeks and I'll see you next time. Love you all!**

 **Dex Cipher- Thanks for pointing that out. I had an explanation just forgot to put it in the last one. I really appreciate the help. Hope you keep enjoying!**

 **Christopherprime22- I'm glad you like my little Starco moments, I just can't resist making them as cute as possible and yes their bond has only just began and only time will help it grow. I know I sounded kinda rushed in my last chapter but I'm doing fine, I just need to not post chapters when I'm half-asleep and exhausted, but thank you for not wanting to rush me. I rush myself!**

 **Ohhh, that song does fit them! My go to song for this story is "Never be Alone" Fat Rat remix. Everytime I hear it I just think, "Now that's my Starco!"**

 **FANGIRL mayham- I'm so glad you enjoyed it, but are you two okay. Do you need to rest? *pulls out a chair for them* First wrecking your house and now crying and losing your voices (and throwing phones) I'm starting to get concerned! You two should just... take it easy and not get so worked up. I mean look at me I'm fine. *new chapter of favorite Starco story uploads to screen* AHHHHHHH! My life is amazing! YESSS! *passes out in chair* Uhhh, what happened? Did I black out for a minute?**

 **Person- I'm glad you like it! I work hard to make it the best it can be. And don't worry I do take the time needed but try very hard not to rush it as I want it to sound good. I also really wanted this one to be cute when it needed but not shying away from the drama, so yeah I know it has its sad moments as well as its so cute you just want to die ones.**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	5. The Second Day is Always Rough

Chapter 4: The Second Day is Always Rough

 **Hello, Stardom! I'm baaaccck! Sorry this one was out late, the internet in my house has been out the last couple of days and I wasn't able to post:( _Stupid thunderstorms!_ But it's here now and so I hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows, you are all the absolute best and make writing an absolute pleasure! **

**Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The sun rose lazily over Mewni, lighting up the world in its bright, shining brilliance. And as the rising sun hit the very peaks of the Butterfly Castle it seemed the whole world was awake and well once again. Except not everyone was awake on this bright, shining morning, one boy still slept as the sun's rays slowly peaked through the curtains outside his window, lighting up his face, making him stir in his sleep. He let out a yawn, stretching his aching limbs, as he tried to regain focus in his world once again. He blinked a few times, looking around his room with droopy eyes, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing there. His eyes came to rest on his still-opened closet, his treasure chest of hoodies seen peeking out from within.

"Oh right!" Marco exclaimed, suddenly wide-awake with excitement. He flung the covers off, running over to his closet, and immediately pulling down one of the hoodies. He examined it with a satisfied smile, saying loudly to himself, "Today's gonna be another great day!"

The door to his room flung open as Marco, now fully dressed, took a triumphant pose, yelling loudly, "All right, Mewni! I'm ready for whatever you've got!"

"Ahem." Marco looked over to see a group of servants, all bent down with scrub brushes to the floor, glaring at the hooded boy. Marco looked down to see he was standing on the freshly mopped floor and a mop bucket had been knocked over by his door swinging open, the mop water slowly spreading out ruining the servants hard work. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling awkwardly. "Uhhh... sorry."

He went to take a step out of the way, but didn't notice the bar of soap left haphazardly on the freshly-scrubbed floor. The second Marco's foot made contact with the soap he felt himself losing his balance as he slipped and fell forward with a yell, landing clumsily on a pedestal that decorated the hallway, the priceless vase suspended on it sent tumbling to the floor.

The servant all let out a collective gasp as Marco dove for the object, just barely managing to snatch it before it shattered against the soapy floor. Marco stood, panting, holding the object delicately against his chest. He looked over to the servants who all watched him with wide-eyes and open-mouths, suddenly feeling awkward with all their disbelieving stares trained on him. He gave another nervous chuckle, before softly saying, "I caught it." He held the vase out for them to see, but his elbow bumped a string that had been tied securely next to him, quickly unraveling and releasing the glass chandelier hanging over the brightly-lit hallway. It fell with a plop, shattering into a thousand pieces and sending several of the servants into a dive to avoid getting hit.

Marco looked on at the destruction and damage he had caused to the scene in front of him, his face wide with disbelief. He gently set the vase back on its pedestal, his eyes never leaving the shattered chandelier in front of him. He blinked a few times, before softly muttering to himself, "Or maybe I'm not ready." Marco's suspicions were confirmed as the vase comically fell over, shattering into a million priceless pieces.

…

Star hummed softly as she gently ran her hairbrush through her long, blond locks, a strange, but positive feeling consuming her on this lovely morning. She didn't know what it was, but ever since she woke up that morning she had felt a warm sensation slowly building inside her, a nice, pleasant feeling replacing her normally stressed and anxious one, the emotion familiar and yet distant, as if she had almost forgotten it existed. She couldn't quite say it was a feeling of true peace, Mewni knew she hadn't felt that in forever, but it was a nice feeling, one of... contentment and she was enjoying it for as long as it chose to stay. After all, it had been years since she felt this good and it was thanks to Mar...

Star shook her head free of the thought, setting the brush down on her vanity, looking at her herself in the mirror, checking to make sure her dress and hair was the way she wanted it. She nodded, satisfied with herself as she went to stand. But as she did, her hands absentmindedly brushed against something drawing her attention down to it.

There lay the horned headband, just sitting there in silence, looking old and welcoming, calling to her to embrace her roots. She smiled as she thought of Marco's kind gesture the night before, her mind instantly recalling the look of barely suppressed joy as he had flung the package into her hands, his eyes shining as they trained on her. She had no idea where he had found it (she was sure she had thrown it away years ago) but it felt good to see it again, reminding her of a simpler time when everything wasn't so complicated and confusing. Though, she found it funny to admit that Marco himself seemed to be having that effect on her, his cute naivety making her life feel a little less difficult just by having him around. She blushed, shacking her head free of thoughts once again.

As she sat contemplating her decision, she began to slowly reach out for the aged hairpiece. But a flash of light blinded her for a second and she turned to her crown glowing golden in the early morning light. She hesitated, suddenly unsure what to do. While she wanted to take the headband, she could feel the weight of unwanted responsibility on her shoulders as the crown seemed to be giving her a chiding glare, reminding her of the appearances she still had to keep up. Her eyes darted back and forth between the crown she required and the headband she wanted, feeling the intense pressure to conform to a side, it all felt like some big test, like her decision would change everything. But what choice should she make? What was the right decision? How would she-

Star jumped as there was a loud banging on the door to her room, feeling her heart leap into her throat for a second, as she was pulled out of her intense daze. "Yes," she said, her voice squeaking against her will.

"Princess," a muffled voice called from the other side of the door. "The King and Queen asked me to inform you that they have left you with several tasks that must be completed today while they are out dealing with an... issue at the northern most border." Star rolled her eyes. _So what else was new?_ "Might I suggest getting some nice, warm breakfast to give you some energy for the day ahead. Your two young lady friends are already eating."

"Yes, of course," Star called back to him, trying to keep her voice light, but her lack of enthusiasm was obvious and she mentally chided herself for showing emotion. "I'll be right down."

There was a short pause, as the servant seemed to be deciding how to reply. "Of course, Your Highness."

Star waited, listening as the servant's footsteps echoed down the hallway, before letting out a deep sigh, grabbing her crown and placing it gently on her head, as she headed for the door.

…

"Where's Marco?" Jackie asked, looking up from her plate to stare at her creepy roommate from across the table, her eyes for just a moment glancing at the empty chair next to Janna, the warm breakfast slowly growing colder with every passing second. But Janna just shrugged, absentmindedly pocking her fork against the tabletop, making tiny little holes in the furnished wood. She smiled hearing an audible groan from one of the servants behind her every time the fork made contact with the wood tabletop.

"I don't know," Janna replied with a bored tone.

"Do you think he got lost?" Jackie questioned suddenly concerned for the boy.

"Knowing Marco he probably got himself stuck in a door or something," Janna said, sarcastically.

"Come on, Jan, give Marco some credit I don't think he's that oblivious," Jackie scolded her friend.

…

"How is this happening to me?" Marco squeaked, looking over at the door that currently had him trapped in its death grip, it having slammed shut right on the back of his hood, leaving him to stand there awkwardly until someone came across him and freed him from his embarrassing predicament.

After helping the servants pick up the shattered fragments of what was once the glass chandelier and vase, the still-soapy floor making finding the pieces rather difficult, he found himself practically sopping wet, his shoes and socks soaked all the way through, making his feet squish every time he walked. He had quickly run inside his room to change out of his wet socks (which for some reason were just driving him bonkers) and shoes and into a fresh pair, heading for the kitchen, his growling stomach directing his every movement.

But, as he quickly found out, he had no idea where the kitchen was in the huge castle, or the rest of the rooms for that matter, wandering endlessly down the hall, in the hopes he came across the right room. Eventually, he had spotted an open door and felt a sudden surge of hope, all of the other rooms he had come across having been locked or empty. He looked into the tiny room, seeing it littered with towels, brooms, and other cleaning supplies, and let out a defeated sigh, his growling stomach reminding himself of his predicament once again.

But suddenly to his surprise, the door slammed shut, catching his hood in the act, trapping it in place, and leaving him struggling to get loose. The unknowing maid, however, didn't hear the boy's cries for help or the loud banging on the broom closet door, her headphone's music drowning out the boy as she pushed her cart quietly down the hall, heading for the next room on her long list.

So now, here he was still stuck in the small closest, his empty stomach almost aching as it cried out for the food he didn't have. He wasn't sure how long he had been trapped in the small, claustrophobic space, as time seemed to drag by in the small room. He could have been there for a few minutes or a few hours, for all he knew the day was completely over and the castle had gone to sleep, leaving him trapped there until morning. "Hello, is anyone there?!" he yelled for what felt like the hundredth time that day, listening for a reply, any reply. But when none came once again, he groaned, slamming his back against the door, ignoring the stinging it brought, as he wished someone would please just come along and let him out of this predicament. This was really not how he wanted this day to go.

He was surprised when he heard the sound of the knob turning behind him, feeling the tension around his neck release, as the door slowly opened, freeing his trapped hood. "Oh, thank goodness," he cried in joy, turning to his savior, only to come face to face with Star, his heart pounding away in his chest, as their faces came just inches from touching. "S-Star!" he barely managed to squeak.

Star only gave him a confused look, asking, "Marco, what are you doing in a broom closet?"

"I-I got lost and saw the open door and thought maybe it might be where I needed to go," he explained quickly, trying not to make eye contact with Star, feeling suddenly flustered having her this close for some reason.

"Oh," she replied. "Well I came to get you so we could go to breakfast together but you weren't in your room and there was apparently some kind of accident in the hall." Marco grimaced, before Star continued her explanation. "I got worried, so I went looking for you. I was about to send a search party, but luckily, I heard you yelling."

"Yeah, but how did you open the door?" Marco asked.

Star paused for a second before saying, "Marco, It wasn't locked."

Marco face-palmed, feeling like an idiot. In his panic, he had never checked to see if he could open it. "Oops," he said, his face still mostly covered by his hand.

He froze as his hand was gently pulled away by Star, holding his hand softly and staring at him with warm, sympathetic eyes. "Hey, it's okay," she whispered softly, giving him a comforting smile that made his whole stomach flip. "Your still new to all of this. I'm sure you'll get it in no time. I'm just glad your safe."

Marco took a deep breath, feeling calm once again. "Yeah, your right," he said, his voice regaining some of its characteristic energy, as he returned the smile. "So it's a rough start, I can still turn this around!"

"That's the spirit," Star exclaimed, clapping his hands together between her own, giving him a reassuring smile. "Now come on, let's go get something to eat." She pumped an excited fist in the air, before racing off down the hall, the equally-hungry boy following closely behind her. He ran to keep up with the overly-enthusiastic girl, grinning widely as his nose picked up the sweet smell of pancakes a short distance away, his stomach growling once again. _Yeah_ , he thought softly to himself as he followed after the head-strong girl. _Everything will be better after I eat._

…

Luckily for Marco, breakfast went off without a hitch, the two enjoying the delicious meal (remade fresh due to their tardiness) talking and getting to know one another as they stuffed delectable food down their throats. Jackie and Janna apparently had already finished eating and gone off to do their own thing for the day, leaving Star and Marco alone. But this didn't seem to bother the two, finding themselves easily able to enjoy one another's company, feeling relaxed and at ease in the others presence.

Marco did notice, however, that Star wasn't wearing the headband from before, but instead wearing her princess crown, looking important and dignified there on top of her long, golden hair. And while it did look nice on her (what didn't) Marco couldn't help but feel hurt that she hadn't worn his gift yet. He tried not to take offense to it, after all she had thanked him for it, giving him a very gratified hug, so she clearly liked his gift, but she was a princess, she had bigger priorities right now. _She probably just forgot_ , he rationalized. _She'll remember soon._

"So, Marco, any plans for today?" Marco, realizing he had zoned out, quickly looked over at the girl, who stared at him with a questioning gaze, her focus trained entirely on him. He blushed and looked away, pocking his food absentmindedly with his fork, trying to ignore the girl's bright stare that was slowly digging into his skin.

"No, not really," he replied, not looking the girl in the eye.

"Well, would you like to spend the day with me, then?" Marco looked over at the girl once again, in shock, not noticing her eyes seem to glimmer as she smiled at him.

"Are you sure I won't be in the way?" Marco asked, Toffee's old words of dissatisfaction ringing around in his head once again.

But Star giggled at Marco's unnecessary worry, "Of course not!" she reassured. "Why would you be in the way?"

"Cause I keep messing everything up today and-"

"Marco," Star interrupted, putting a hand on top of his own, instantly calming his spiraling mind as the two's eyes locked once again. "I want you with me," she said softly, giving him a reassuring smile, Marco's whole body seeming to relax as they stared at each other in silence, the moment slowly stretching out, as the world condensed down to just the two of them, staring deeply into each others eyes.

The door to the kitchen slammed open with a loud bang as a burly guard entered the room, making the two jump and instinctively pull their hands away. "Princess!" the guard exclaimed, dropping into a respectful bow, as he addressed his future ruler.

"Yes!" Star said, for some reason feeling nervous and out of breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the general has requested to speak with you, right away," the guard continued, keeping his eyes on the floor. "She says it's urgent."

"The general?" Star repeated, trying not to let the fear leak out of her voice, keeping her face as expressionless as possible. But she couldn't quite hide the grimace that leaked out of her already startled facial features.

"Yes, Your Majesty, she's waiting for you in the corn fields," the guard confirmed, somehow managing to bow even lower as he replied.

Star took a deep breath, instinctively looking over at Marco, as if hoping for some sort of comfort from him, before standing up out of her seat. "Very well, then," Star said, trying to make her voice as commanding as possible. "I suppose I'll go meet her."

Star followed after the guard, looking extremely uncomfortable. Marco started to watch her go, before quickly rising up out of his seat and running after the girl, leaving his half-eaten breakfast alone to spoil.

…

General Skullnick was a well known and feared member of the Butterfly Court, her accomplishments in helping control and tame the monsters had quickly become that of legend, despite the fact that she was often mistaken for a monster herself. Though she was in fact a troll from a different dimension she still closely resembled the very creatures she was helping to fight against often making her the outcast of most social circles. But she took no grief in this fact, however, using her looks often to go undercover as one of the monsters and gain their trust. This was how she had slowly grown in power over the years, when the fighting had first started, quickly making a name for herself among the skeptic Mewmans. Eventually, her accomplishments had become so well known that the king and queen had asked her to become head general of their army and help dispatch Toffee and his monsters as quickly as possible. And while she did seem to hold a certain soft spot for the Butterfly family, anyone who had ever met the troll general knew not to cross her, her temper being almost as well known as her battle strategies.

This was why as the general waited impatiently for the princess just outside the purple, bubble-like barrier in the corn field, her foot tapping impatiently, all the guards assigned to watch Mewni's greatest source of substance kept a safe distance from her, watching the general wearily in case she snapped. She groaned in annoyance, making every guard within a mile jump, as she growled, "Where is she?"

One of the guards cleared his throat nervously, shakily replying, "S-She's on her way, M-Ma'am."

She turned to him with a glare, making him shrink under her intense stare. "And what was she doing, exactly, that was _so_ much more important than all the royal duties that the King and Queen intrusted to her?"

"I-I-I don't know, Ma'am!" the guard stammered in a panic, his whole body shaking with fear, as the troll general towered over him. "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!" he screamed, cowering in terror.

"General Skullnick!" Skullnick and the rest of the guards all turned to see the princess approaching them. The troll began stomping over to her future ruler, the guard she had interrogated before visibly sighing with relief as her focus was pulled away from him.

Star did her best to keep the wide smile on her face, as came face to face with the overdramatic general, despite her obvious nervousness, hoping the general couldn't see her sweating. "It's good to see you," she awkwardly said, finding it harder and harder to keep the smile on her face.

"Princess Star," she greeted, blatantly scolding the girl, not even bothering to bow before her future ruler. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you for the last hour."

Star coughed, trying to clear her throat free of the lump that was slowly growing inside it. "Well, you see..." she began, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"She was eating breakfast with me." Star's eyes widened as, everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to the hooded boy that had, up until now, been hidden behind her. He looked around at the eyes now trained on him and shrunk a little under their intense gaze, a shy blush lighting up his cheeks.

"Who's this?" Skullnick exclaimed in concern, pointing an accusing finger at the boy, Marco instinctively flinching as the finger was flung in his direction.

Star quickly jumped between the two, putting a protective hand in front of her friend. "No one!" she exclaimed, the obvious terror in her voice only making the general even more suspicious, as her eyes narrowed, glaring daggers at the hooded Mewman. "I-I mean, he's no one important, General Skullnick," she quickly recovered, trying desperately to keep her voice light and calm, despite the pounding of her heart. "Marco's just an orphan, I met... yesterday... alone... in the wooooodssss." Star mentally slapped herself, both out of anger at herself and to get her anxious voice to stop talking, while every guard around her face-palmed.

"And let me guess," Skullnick grunted in obvious sarcasm. "You decided to let him come live with you in your shiny, golden castle because you felt bad for him. Right?"

"Well I, uh-"

"And I'll bet you never even asked where he came from, how he got here, or pretty much anything for that matter, because you were afraid it might hurt his feelings."

Star turned for a second, to see the look of pain in Marco's eyes and she felt her heart drop. But the general continued her rant/scolding. "And let me take a wild guess and assume your parents have no idea about the fact you let a total stranger into the castle, _without their_ _permission,_ who, for all you know could be a spy!"

"Well I kinda liked him," Jak spoke up from the background, Dex looking at his friend with horror.

Skullnick turned on her heels to glare at the two guards. "What are you two idiots doing?" she screamed at the two, making them jump. "You're supposed to be guarding the front gates!"

The two quickly scrambled away, feeling the general's cold stare on them as they went. Star took the moment to gather her nerve once again, taking a deep breath in, calming her racing heart.

"Listen General Skullnick," she began keeping her voice calm, even as the general swerved back to her with a focused glare. "I understand your concern, but Marco is perfectly safe. I mean look at him." She gestured over to the boy, who froze at the unwanted attention, looking around for an escape. "Does he look even _slightly_ intimidating?"

Skullnick stared at the boy for a second, who sweated uncontrollably as her look seemed to be digging into his skin. All was silent for a moment, as the general sized the unwanted guest up, her eyes somehow narrowing with every passing second. Star held her breath, hoping she had actually managed to soothe the overprotective general. Finally, the general spoke, her voice still intense, but lacking the harshness from before. "Very well, princess. I trust your decision as ruler."

Star let out a breath, feeling relief wash over her once again, every guard following her lead, a collective sigh of relief echoing around the corn field. Marco hovered a little closer to Star, seeking her comfort. "But," the general continued, holding up a scolding finger, that made Marco jump. "I will be discussing this issue with your parents when I return."

Star gulped, but nodded, knowing it was only a matter of time before they found out about him anyway. Still, Skullnick was not the person she wanted giving the news to her parents. In fact, she was the last person she wanted relaying the information to them. Though her parents were supportive of Star's kind acts in the past, she knew they would be weary of their daughter spending time alone with a strange boy they had never even seen. And add over-dramatic Skullnick into the equation and she could see the problem escalating to a large scale very quickly. She made a mental note to call her parents later before Skullnick could ever reach them.

"So, now to what I'm actually here to see you about, Princess Star," Skullnick said, snapping Star out of her stupor, as she looked to the troll general with nervous anticipation. "As you know Mewni's corn field is protected by its magical barrier, which your mother keeps up at all times."

"Yeah, what about it?" Star asked in confusion. She doubted Mewni's most valued general would come all the way there just to give her a history lesson.

But of course, she wasn't. "Well, your mother asked me here to inform you that the barrier's magic is fading. And she needs you to replenish it."

"What?!" Star exclaimed in panic, losing her calm demeanor for a moment as her eyes lit up in terror. "But how could the magic be fading?" Star continued, struggling to regain control of her emotions once again. "I mean, surely she's mistaken."

"No, Star, she's not," Skullnick said, before gesturing to the purple barrier. Star looked at it for a moment and immediately saw that Skullnick, was in fact, right, the magical bubble flickering every couple of seconds, obviously on the brink of collapsing. Star gulped, her hand gently touching the hilt of her wand, poking out from her small cloud purse. "The shield is about to go," the general continued, proclaiming loudly, so the rest of the guards could hear. "And if it goes, then you can bet we'll be infested with monsters, desperate to steal our food supply." She paused letting the knowledge sink in, as several guards exchanged worried looks, anxious chattering echoing around the corn field. Star looked around at the disturbed guards with stress, feeling responsible for their distress, wanting nothing more than to ease their troubled minds. Marco, however, frowned in confusion, the general's words not quite adding up in his head.

"Why would the monsters steal food?" Marco asked and Skullnick gave him a dead-panned stare, Star snapping out of her daze and turning to the two with panic in her eyes, the doctor's words of warning echoing around her head.

"You serious," Skullnick replied with a monotone, giving the boy a disbelieving look. Marco just looked at her with confusion. "Do you seriously not know?" she continued, with a raised eyebrow.

"Know what?" Marco asked innocently and Star's brain screamed at her to do something _now_.

"Uh, General Skullnick!" she screamed, drawing the general's, and Marco's, attention to her. She breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"You don't have to shout Star I'm right here!" Skullnick scolded, Marco cocking his head to the side in confusion next to her.

"Uh, right of course," Star replied, completely flustered, trying and failing to calm herself down. "But I'm just curious why my mom doesn't just come here herself and fix the shield." She gave them a nervous smile, both of the them raising eyebrows at the flustered blond.

But Skullnick seemed to recover from Star's strangeness, walking over to her, while explaining, "Well, the queen is preoccupied with other activities at the moment and needs you to preform the spell."

Star bit her lip anxiously. "Yes, but why would she ask her most valued general here, instead of just a random guard?" she asked, chuckling nervously. Skullnick just gave her a blank stare and Star felt her heart stop as she realized the reason her mom would ask her there in the middle of a monster attack. "Please don't tell me this is a test," she squeaked, fear clenching her gut.

"All right, I won't tell you," Skullnick replied, crossing her arms and giving the frazzled princess a knowing look. Star gulped, her hand clenching around the magical stick, still in her purse.

Marco watched the two a short distance away, his brain still turning around Skullnick's confusing comment, trying to make sense of the nonsensical world he seemed to be living in. Why would the monsters be stealing food? As far as he could tell they had never seemed to be starving or bad off, but then he did live under the rule of their powerful leader. Still it seemed strange to Marco to imagine the monsters committing such a crime. Was this what Buff Frog had been talking about? Marco's thought continued to spiral out of control, making the boy feel more and more lost, until he heard a rustling in the corn stalks beside him, drawing his attention away and stopping his out-of-control thoughts.

He stepped closer to the corn field, his eyes looking around for the source of the noise, but saw nothing. Then suddenly, he saw a quick movement brush past and he jumped, giving a startled squeak. He turned back to the others, the guards still just staring blankly ahead, not even facing the area they were guarding, and Star and Skullnick talking a short distance away. He opened his mouth to call to them, but stopped, seeing the look on Star's face. She looked completely disheartened, her eyes brimming with anxiety, her whole face scrunched up with clear distress. He looked at her for a moment, before realizing he couldn't interrupt her now, not when she had so much pressure already built up on her shoulders, he didn't want to complicate things more than he already had that day.

So he took a deep breath before passing quietly into the corn stalks, phasing through the shield with no trouble, and disappearing from the other's view. He walked slowly ahead, his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden lack of light as he heard a rustle behind him and he swerved trying to spot it in the faded light, only to be followed by another rustle to his side. He turned, barely managing to spot the shadow disappearing deeper into the corn field. He sprinted ahead, pushing his way through the troublesome corn, following the shadowed figure, who brushed the corn aside at a full run. He continued the chase as his heart rate began picking up speed and his breathing became heavy, willing his legs to keep going. Suddenly though, the figure seemed to just vanish from view. Marco brought himself to a stop, panting heavily, as his eyes darted around him looking for any sign of the figure. He tried to keep his nerve, as the tiny tinge of fear shot up his spine, the sounds of rustling seeming to come from every direction. He rotated around in a frantic circle, trying to spot the source of his fright.

Suddenly, he felt something poke his unprotected back and screamed, turning on his heels to face the terrifying stranger, only to come face to face with the smirking Janna, a mischievous smile plastered on her face. "Janna!" Marco screamed in fear, the creepy girl breaking down into a laughing fit.

"You should... have seen... the look on your face," she gasped out, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You scared me!" he screamed again, unable to believe the girl.

"Yeah, and it was amazing," Janna replied, gaining some sense of control of herself, as her laughter slowly died down to a mild chuckle, her face the picture of tranquility.

Marco gave her a glare, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Well, I didn't think it was funny," he mumbled.

"Ah, relax, Marco," Janna said, putting an arm around the boy, Marco tensing up under her touch. "It was just a joke."

Marco sighed, knowing arguing with her was pointless, as he tiredly asked, "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Something cool," she said, wagging her eyebrows at the startled boy. "Wanna see?"

Marco thought for a moment before answering. He didn't trust Janna, _at all_ , but Star and Jackie clearly valued her as a friend and so he figured he should probably give her a chance. After all, she had helped him out yesterday and though, she seemed a little off-putting, he was curious what it was that had compelled her out there into the middle of a corn maze. Janna smiled, seeing Marco's obvious curiosity, knowing she had won. "Wellll," he hesitantly said, rubbing a hand up and down his arm, nervously. "Maybe... just this once."

"Great!" Janna shouted, pushing the boy away from her, sending him stumbling, as she quickly walked over the the nearest corn stalk, plucking off one of the cobs. Marco watched her wearily as she reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a small metal object.

"What's that for?" Marco asked, as Janna flipped open the top, a small flame lighting up. She gave him another smirk, as he gave her a skeptic look.

"Popcorn," she replied, holding the corn up to the flame, the whole thing immediately heating up. Marco stepped closer, watching the corn with wonder as it slowly changed color under the intensity of the flame. After a moment, a piece of corn popped, making Marco scream and jump, as a small, fluffy piece of popcorn flew into the air, Janna catching it in her teeth.

"Whoa!" Marco exclaimed in joy, as Janna chewed on the delicious snack. "That was amazing!"

Janna swallowed, giving the boy a grin. "Wanna try?" she asked him and his eyes widened in delight.

"Can I?" he asked, as Janna held out both the corn and the lighter for him to take, Marco eagerly snatching them out of the girl's hands.

"'Course," Janna replied with a shrug. "Knock yourself out."

Marco looked down at the objects, with a look of over-zealousness, pausing for a moment before he flipped the small lighter up, immediately creating a spark and flame.

Star took in a deep breath, trying to ignore the eyes trained on her, as she held the wand up high, trying to recall the spell needed, her inner voice chanting to herself to not screw up. Skullnick watched the princess intensely, taking in the shaking of her hands, as she held the wand aloft, mentally crossing her fingers in hopes that Star succeeded in casting the spell. Though she would never admit it out loud, she did hope Star was able to pass the difficult test.

Suddenly, Skullnick got the slightest whiff of smoke in the air, but before she could even question it, the entire corn field lit up in flames, the bubble shield popping into nonexistence. Star's mouth dropped open, as the guards around her went into a panic, running wildly around the field as the Mewnian's greatest source of income burned to the ground, the sky above them raining down flaming pieces of the popped corn. Skullnick quickly took stock of the situation, barking orders to the guards as she attempted to gain some form of control over the growing flames. "Vinny get some buckets of water, stat! Link don't just stand there like an idiot and help the others! Burnie stop spitting on the flames, it isn't helping! Come on, ladies, let's move it, move it, move it!"

Star just stood there frozen, wand still raised, as she looked on in terror at the burning field. She watched as the guards began throwing bucket of water on the flames, hearing Skullnick ask one of the guards, "Who started this anyway?"

"We don't know Ma'am, it could have been anyone," he replied.

"Well, I'll bet you Toffee had something to do with this, the sneaky lizard."

At the mention of Toffee, Star eyes widened, looking beside her for Marco, only to realize he wasn't there. She looked around in terror, searching for a flash of red somewhere in the panicked crowd. "Marco! Where's Marco?!" she breathed. Before adding louder, "Has anyone seen Marco?"

A loud, girlish scream echoed around the area, Star turning to the burning corn field as she recognized the source of the yell. "Marco!" she screamed, running toward the flaming field, dodging past the guards trying to block her way.

"Starrrrrr!" Marco screamed, running through the field in a panicked dash, Janna following closely behind him, the end of the maze just a short distance away. He turned to see if any of the flames were close to reaching him, only to trip over a fallen corn cob, Janna bumping into him, sending them both tumbling out of the field, Marco landing roughly in someone's arms.

Marco kept his eyes closed tight, his whole body shaking with fear as he tried to recover from the terrifying ordeal. "Marco, Marco, are you okay?" a familiar voice called and Marco cracked open an eye to see he was in the arms of Star, a look of worry on her pretty face.

"S-Star!" Marco's voice squeaked, as he looked over the burning fields, then to Janna slowly rising to her feet, rubbing her head, and finally to the platoon of guards trying desperately to put out the flames. His gut twisted with guilt, as he saw the mess he had made out of the corn field, Skullnick silently coming up behind the two. "You!" she screamed, pointing an accusing finger at the boy. "Did you see the monster that did this!"

"What monster?" Marco asked, weakly. "There wasn't a-"

"Yeah, the monster!" Janna quickly cut in. "I think I saw it run away into the forest, right after the fire started!" she pointed behind her, Marco giving her a confusing look.

"But-"

"Those rotten scum!" Skullnick hissed, before turning to a random guard. "Spread out and find the monster that did this!"

"But what about the fire?" the guard argued.

"Well put it out first and then spread out and find him!" Skullnick yelled, the guard giving a shaky salute before running off to join the others.

Marco watched the scene unfold with growing guilt, before being lifted up by Star, who held onto him tightly in case his legs gave out. Marco just looked depressingly at the floor as Star checked him over for new injuries. "Everything alright?" she asked, with concern and Marco just nodded. "Okay, well why don't you go over somewhere where I don't have to worry about you getting burned." She gave him another smile, but it felt hallow to Marco as she ran off to help the others with the catastrophe. He slowly walked away from the fire, heading for the castle, his insides twisted up into knots of guilt. Star had been wrong, he shouldn't have come with. Now everything was ruined because of him. And the monster's were taking the blame for it all.

…

The rest of the day passed in a haze of popcorn, flames, and panic. After a while, they managed to get the fire under control, losing about half their crop of corn, the whole thing converted over to its fluffy, white substitute. Star helped out where she could, casting every water and ice spell she knew in an attempt to calm the raging fire, and with Skullnick's directions the guards were able to more than make up the rest of it, the fire contained and destroyed under the troll's excellent leadership skills. Janna watched the whole thing from the sidelines holding out a red and white striped box, that quickly filled with the popcorn from heaven as it rained down around the field. Jackie had eventually come to see what the commotion was about and helped them clear away the popcorn mess, forcing her reluctant, beanie-wearing friend to help out. Finally, the end of the day had arrived, the sun slowly shrinking into the sky and the guards, following Skullnick's orders, began to quickly spread out into the forest around their home in search of the monstrous culprit, while the servants finished bagging up the last remains of popcorn and hauling it away to storage. Star only hoped that the people of Mewni had no problem with eating popcorn for a while.

Once things had calmed down, Star put up a new shield, finding the task far easier than the last couple of hours had been, Skullnick not even looking her way as Star fulfilled her required goal, more interested in catching the monster responsible than Star's test, taking all the stress off of the princess with no one watching. Once the shield was up, Skullnick left to tell the king and queen about the situation, assuring her that it would be dealt with swiftly. Star just smiled and waved, not looking forward to the phone call she would no doubt be getting before the end of the night.

With Skullnick gone and the disaster settled, Star decided to retire for the night, needing to relax after such an exhausting incident. She grabbed a quick bite to eat from the kitchen, before heading to her room to change. But, on the way, she stopped one of the maids, asking her if she had seen any sign of Marco, the boy having disappeared shortly after the fire started. She informed her that Marco hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and had instead locked himself in his room, where he had been unresponsive for hours. Star thanked the maid, keeping her voice and expression light, hiding her inner concern for the boy well, as she headed off for her room once again, this time at a much faster pace, feeling the need to check on the boy as soon as possible.

…

Marco let out a depressed sigh, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill. This day had been awful. He hadn't done a single thing right all day and everything he had done had only made things a million times worse for everyone. He now knew why Toffee had told him to stay out of the way, because he was incapable of doing anything right. As if on cue, Marco's back began to ache, Toffee's scars throbbing against his bed sheets and Marco rolled over onto his side, pulling his hoodie up to his chest, seeking comfort in its warmth.

He had taken it off, hours ago, when he had locked himself in his room, not feeling fit to where the colorful clothing, Star's kindness feeling wasted on his useless self. Marco buried his head deeper into the soft cloth, letting a few tears spill out, as he softly muttered, "Star would be better off without me."

Marco jumped as there was a soft knock on his door. He wiped his eyes free of tears with the back of his hand, looking at the door with intensity. There was a second knock, this one a bit louder, followed by a familiar voice, "Marco?"

Marco felt his heart rate pick up as he recognized the voice of the pretty princess. "Uh, no one's here," he answered, jumping off his bed and trying to find a hiding spot.

There was a pause at the door, before Star's voice said, "Marco I know you're there. Please open up the door." Her voice sounded worried and Marco felt his chest clench with guilt. He looked longingly at the door, trying to decide if he wanted to open it or not. But he heard the sound of Star exhaling shakily and his resolve broke.

He flew to the door, throwing it open quickly, the two's shocked gazes locking with each other, brown meeting blue. For a few seconds, the two just stared at each other in silence, their cheeks marks lighting up against their knowledge. "Um," Marco began, trying to keep his voice calm. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"I-It's okay," Star stuttered, her voice equally nervous. Her eyes jumped to the floor, Marco scratching his cheek with embarrassment. Star coughed trying to clear her tight throat. "I came to check on you. You kinda disappeared a while back and they said you locked yourself in your room."

"Yeah, I just..." Marco's face fell, his eyes unwantingly filling with tears. Star looked at him with concern, watching his saddened face intensely. Marco took a deep breath before shakily confessing, "It wasn't a monster that started the fire earlier. It was me." Marco looked shamefully at Star the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "I messed up everything. You probably don't even want me around anymore." Star heard the strain in Marco's voice and felt her heart twist up in a knot at how sad he sounded.

"Oh, no," Star instantly soothed, pulling him into a hug. "Of course I still want you here. You just had a bad day that's all. Everybody has them. I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

"But I-" Marco started, but Star shushed him, rubbing a hand up and down his back.

"It's okay. Everything is fine," she soothed, feeling Marco slowly start to relax against her. "I'm not mad, I promise."

"Really," he asked, his voice a tight squeak.

"Of course," Star replied, pulling away from him so she could give him a comforting smile. "Everything is gonna be just fine." Marco looked at her for a moment with the same, sad expression, until he gently wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, giving her a soft smile, though she could still see the tiniest tinges of sadness beneath. Star thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to cheer the boy up, before an idea suddenly popping into her head.

"Come on," Star said, pulling on Marco's arm, shocking the boy as she slowly began dragging him away down the hallway, Marco too upset to argue. Star looked behind her, giving the boy a smile, saying, "I think I know something that will cheer you up."

…

Star brought Marco out onto a balcony, the tower it was resting on so high, you could see practically all of Mewni from it. Marco felt the cold, evening air wash over him, making him chilled, and he quickly put his hoodie on once again, seeking its warmth. Star didn't seem bothered by the cold though, as she gently pulled Marco closer to the edge, the boy stiffening as he looked down at the dizzying heights below his own feet, squeezing Star's hands tighter. "So why exactly did you bring me... _way_ up here?" Marco asked, his voice shaking slightly with fear.

"Because, this is the best spot to show you my surprise," Star answered seriously, trying to hide her smile.

"And what surprise is that?" Marco asked, looking away from the long drop below to give the princess a quizzical look. Star gently reached up and grabbed the sides of his face, Marco's face blushing beet red from her touch. Star looked deep into his eyes for a moment, whispering, "Wait for it." Marco felt his heart thump against his chest as she slowly leaned closer to him.

Suddenly, she turned his head so he was now looking out across the vastness of Mewni, his eyes shifting from one of confusion to wonder as the setting sun lit up the darkening sky with a bright, red beauty that left Marco mesmerized. Star smiled, studying the boy's face as his eyes grew wider and wider, the suns on his cheeks spinning in an excited circle from beneath Star's fingers. "Wowwww," he breathed, his whole face shining with excited curiosity, Star almost unable to bare how cute that face was.

"I know right," Star answered in equal awe, looking at at the colorful sky. "It's beautiful." Marco nodded slowly in agreement. Finally, Star removed her fingers from his face, taking a seat next to him and pulling him down so he was sitting as well, his eyes never once leaving the breathtaking sunset.

"I've never seen anything like it," Marco admitted. And it was true. This was, in fact, Marco's very first sunset. Though he had always wanted to see one, Toffee would never let him outside and by this time of night the castle was too guarded for him to sneak out.

"Yeah," Star agreed, drawing her legs up, so she could rest her head on her knees. "It's been so long since I came up here, I almost forgot how beautiful it was."

The two went silent for a moment, just staring out at the sunset, mesmerized. Until Marco finally spoke up. "Star?"

"Hmm."

"How did you know I would like this?"

Star turned to him and he followed her example. "I just... suspected," she replied with a shrug and Marco gave her a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Star. For sharing this with me."

"Your welcome, Marco. What are friends for?"

The two smiled at each other for a moment, until Marco noticed something different about the girl, something he had been too distracted and sad over before to spot. "You're wearing the headband," he said, pointing at the two small horns pocking out of the top of her hair.

"Oh, yeah," Star shyly responded, self-consciously adjusting them on her head. "Well I have to wear my crown when I'm on 'princess duty' but during my free time I thought I could-"

"They look nice," Marco complimented, looking at the headband with approval. Star blushed, bringing her hands down to her side.

"Thanks," she timidly replied, trying to will her blush away. But Marco didn't seem to notice looking back out at the sunset with a smile, all thoughts of worry or sadness gone from his mind.

"Y'know this really was the perfect ending to a great day." Star watched him, softly, her blush slowly fading as she took in his peaceful face. She reached out a hand, gently fitting her fingers inbetween his own, before looking back out at the setting sun once again.

"Yeah, it was."

The two just stayed like that for a while, watching as the setting sun slowly shrunk into the sky, signaling an end to another day in the kingdom of Mewni.

 **Wow one of the longest so far! Ironically this one was supposed to be a short chapter but I kept adding stuff and improving on it... so yeah. *chuckles nervously***

 **Also I wasn't sure what tone I wanted to hit with this one because I wanted to keep it focused mostly on humor but I couldn't resist putting a little drama and fluff in. Starco is sooo cute! How could I resist?! And I even got to do a little bit more character development and world building! Yay me! *throws confetti into the air* So all in all I liked how it turned out (considering this was one of the few chapters I didn't have originally planned to be in it).**

 **So the next one's release date might be little sketchy. I'm going to try to get it out by next week like I had planned, but losing my internet really threw my whole schedule off, so don't be surprised if it comes out two weeks from now instead of one. I'll do my best, but I just can't make any promises. Anyways I hope you have a great week (or two) and I'll see you all again next time. *gives everyone sorry-for-being-late hugs* Hugs!**

 **Oracle6044- Thanks! I'm so glad you like it!**

 **A unimpressive name- Yeah, I feel your pain. That's pretty much what I say every time I post. Well that and "Must rest!" But you can ignore that last part ;) But seriously, I'm glad your enjoying and look forward to giving you more in the future.**

 **Christopherprime22- *gasps* I would love to share songs with you! Music is a huge part of my writing process and I would love to share some of my love for music with someone else! But before I do I should tell you, I usually listen to music and judge it by the song and how it makes me feel not what singer is singing it or type of music it is. If I like the song, I like it. Just wanted to throw that out there.**

 **Anywho, let's see... well one song I can definitely give a must is "Drop Pop Candy". It's a great song and perfect for Starco. There are several version of the song (all of them great) but my absolute favorite is the one by "judyphonics" because I picture Star and Marco singing this song to each other and it makes me happy every time.**

 **As for the actual chapter, I'm so glad you loved it and yeah innocent Marco is just so cute ^W^! Ha, ha, yeah, sorry maybe I did go a little overboard with Janna, but I couldn't resist having her be so off-putting, as I wanted it where Jackie is really the only thing keeping her under wraps. I'll try to tone her down a bit in the future. If she'll let me, she is quite difficult to control! *looks dramatically behind her where Janna stands, shaking her head slowly***

 **Anyways, thank you loving my story so much, I'm deeply honored!**

 **Star's Keyblade4114- Good question! Well, I do know that in cannon only royal female members can have them, but it is alternate universe and I wanted to give them to Marco and the others so that you could tell them apart from the humans that are in the story. So I ultimately decided, "ah, why not" and made it where every Mewman, woman of child, is born with them. That and so the title would make sense, seeing as how he has the sun cheek marks.**

 **DaWnSpRiDe- Don't apologize, thank you so much for the correction! I'm not a perfect writer, so I do appreciate any constructive criticism I get, as it does help to improve my work. It's really thoughtful of you! Also, wow, I think about 90% of people probably never even see its a mistake, I honestly thought there was no difference. Huh, good to know. Anyways, thanks for your support and I'll continue to do my best!**


	6. Learning Curve

Chapter 5: Learning Curve

 **It's donnnnne! And on timeeeeeee! Hello, Stardom! I'm back once again with another great chapter to share! Phew, this one was difficult, but funnnn! Okay sorry I'm a little hyper today, I'm just super pleased to actually be getting my schedule back on track! And thank you all so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows, I couldn't have gotten this done without you. Your support gave me the energy needed to get this done on time, so thank you so much for that! So I'll leave you all to it and hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

It took Marco a few days to adjust to life in the Butterfly Castle. He spent most of the days wandering around the castle, getting a feel for the place, hoping to keep himself from having to rely on others to get around.

Star spent little time with him over the next couple of days, though Marco knew it wasn't her fault, her royal duties seeming to consume every second of her day it seemed. Though, he did find it strange that despite the fact she was called princess she acted more like a queen, her tasks seeming way too time-consuming and difficult for a mere queen-in-training. But Marco didn't question it, he new very little about Mewman life as it was, and for all he knew he was completely in the wrong. And to her credit, Star was considerate about it always asking him if he wanted to come with, but Marco always refused, to which Star simply nodded in understanding, knowing he had had enough of royal duties for a while. Marco really didn't mind, though, even though he felt himself craving Star's attention and company, he was used to doing things on his own.

Most of the time the two spent together was in the evening, the two making a habit out of watching the sunset, meeting up almost every single day on the high-rise balcony. Marco found the sunset irresistible, loving every second of the breathtaking beauty, though it wasn't the only thing he was starting to find irresistible.

Star, as well, was enjoying their time together, trying to find ways around her busy schedule to see the innocent little Mewman. Somehow, her parents were still in the dark about the boys presence there, the flaming corn field apparently distracting Skullnick from discussing the newcomer in the castle with the king and queen, and Star had chosen to wait for the perfect opportunity to let them know about Marco, just in case they overreacted. For now, he was her little secret and it kinda felt good, she hadn't been "disobedient" with her parents in... well years. And really, there was no reason to get them worked up over nothing, not when they had _far_ more important matters to deal with. And so the days at Butterfly Castle passed by uneventfully, as they all took time to adjust to the changes the hooded boy had brought with him.

And it seemed as if it was another calm, peaceful day on Mewni, as Marco slowly followed a small, rocky trail, its path stretching long and wide as it seemed to loop all the way around the castle. He had stumbled across it just that morning, immediately curious about where this seemingly out of place path could possibly lead to, and feeling a strong sense of adventure decided to follow it, leaving his curious mind to wonder as he wandered farther down the rocky dirt path.

But he didn't have to wonder for long, as he suddenly heard a strange noise a short distance off, quickly running over to investigate, a rush of adrenaline flowing through him as he raced into the unknown. He reached the end of the path, finding himself staring at a very strange sight. The path seemed to lead to a large clearing, with all kinds of equipment and things scattered around the area, some kind of make-shift obstacle course set up there, though for what purpose Marco had no idea. But the most impressive thing seemed to be the large, wooden platform rising high up into the air. It was some kind of ramp-like things, its two sides curving way up into the air, creating a valley in the middle. To Marco the whole thing seemed like some-kind of strange playground, the question was who was it for?

The boy took a few steps forward, looking around the area, curiously, before spotting Janna a little ways off, watching the platform intensely. _Guess that answers that question_ , Marco thought. He was about to call out to her, until suddenly he spotted Jackie, standing at the top of one of the platform's curved sides, wearing a helmet and pads, a small board with wheels in tucked loosely under her arm. She looked down at the dizzying heights below with a confident smile, hands tucked into the pockets of her shorts, seeming to be measuring some kind of distance from up there.

Marco watched in awe as she lay the board down on the ground in front of her, it's front hanging slightly off the edge, and hopping on it just as it slid forward off the curved side. Marco felt a surge of panic, as Jackie descended the steep incline, gaining more and more speed as she went, and was about to run over to her, until he noticed how relaxed and controlled she seemed on the moving plank, expertly maneuvering around the ramp heading up the other side, her white hair blowing freely from under her helmet, the single green stripe almost mesmerizing as it was tossed around in the wind. As she reached the top of the ramp's side, she quickly flew over it, her momentum sending her flying into the air, as gravity lost its hold of her for a moment. Marco's mouth dropped open at the girl's crazy stunt, as she quickly grabbed the front of her board, maneuvering her body so she turned in mid-air, doing a full circle, before gravity took hold once again and she was now falling back down to the ramp's treacherous curve. There was a loud screech as Jackie's wheels connected with the hard surface, before she continuing on down the side with no interruptions, as if her weightlessness a moment ago had never occurred.

Marco's continued to watch in awe, as the girl perform trick after trick on her skateboard, Janna watching with indifference as the girl skated across the ramp again and again, barely turning her head to watch her friend streak by. Finally, the girl seemed to have had enough, as she began slowing her speed immensely, before bringing her self to a stop in the valley of the two ramps, kicking the board up, and catching it expertly.

Janna walked over to her friend with an emotionless face. "So what did you think?" Jackie asked, removing the strap from her helmet.

Janna shrugged. "Eh, not bad." But the two froze hearing clapping behind them. They turned, surprised to see Marco applauding Jackie's skills, a bright smile lit up on his face.

"Marco?" Jackie said in shock.

"That was awesome!" he screamed, pumping both fists high into the air and Jackie blushed slightly, tucking a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks," she called back to the boy.

"What is this place anyway?" Marco yelled.

"It's my training area, Star had it built for me so I could practice!" Jackie explained via yell.

"Well you were amazing!"

"Thanks, but why don't you come over here so we don't have to keep yelling everything we say," Jackie said, trying to hold back her smile, Janna rolling her eyes at the boy's naivity.

"Okay!" Marco called, before running over to the two girl's, Jackie setting to work removing her knee and shoulder pads while they waited.

"How did you do that?" Marco asked open approaching them, practically shaking in excitement.

"I've been practicing on my skateboard since I was a kid," Jackie explained, as she continued to remove the safety devices. " It kind of runs in my family. My parents gave me my first skateboard as soon as I was old enough to walk. They were both pro skaters so the most time I spent with them was when they were teaching me about boarding. They'd buy me a new board every year and then we'd come to Mewni together on my birthday, to see how much I'd improved. Told me if I could skate here I could skate anywhere." Her voice cut off, as she finished removing the pads. Marco had noticed, as she spoke, her voice and eyes becoming distant and her movements becoming bizarrely slower with every sentence. Though he could feel the air grow thick with tension, he couldn't help but ask the question that was pestering his curious mind.

"Where are your parents?" Marco asked slowly, watching the girl intently for any negative reaction. And, unfortunately, he got one, as Jackie's normally cool face fell, her eyes filling with pain and hurt, as she looked away from the boy, unable to answer his question.

"Same as yours," Janna spoke up in her friend's place, crossing her arms. Though she was clearly trying to sound nonchalant Marco could hear the slightest tinges of emotion beneath her calm facade.

"Oh," Marco said softly, looking at the ground, unsure what else to say. "I'm... sorry."

"Don't be," Jackie replied, trying to regain more of her characteristic calm, giving him a tight smile.

From next to her, Janna continued saying, "Yeah, that's the whole reason all of us are here. Star lets all the orphans in the kingdom stay with her in the palace, until they get back on their feet."

"So where are the others, then?" Marco asked.

"Gone," Janna explained with a shrug. "Moved on to bigger and better things, thanks to Star."

"Wow, that's really nice of her," Marco said, unable to help from admiring the blond girl's kind ways.

"She took me in," Jackie said out of nowhere, her eyes becoming distant once again. "After the accident. She gave me a home. A place to stay. I owe everything to her."

Marco nodded in understanding. "I don't really remember my parents," Marco said his eyes looking to the floor before jumping back to Jackie. "At least you always have your memories of them."

"Yeah," Jackie said, a small smile on her face as put a hand to the little seashell necklace she always wore. "Whenever I skate I feel closer to them, somehow. Like their not really gone, y'know."

"So is that why you do it?" Marco asked and Jackie looked at him in confusion. "Why you skate. To feel closer to them?"

"Yeah," she replied with a small giggle, her voice much stronger. "But I'd probably still do it anyway. I've always loved skating even before, and I've always wanted to skate professionally. It's my dream."

Marco looked at her in confusion. "Dream?" he asked, not sure what this new word meant.

"Yeah, y'know something special for you to work towards. Something, that despite everything, keeps you going no matter what."

"Huh," Marco breathed, deep in thought. "That sounds really cool." He turned to Janna. "Do you have a dream, Janna?"

"Nah," Janna replied immediately, waving a casual hand in the air. "Don't need one."

Marco thought about that for a moment. "Well I think it would be cool to have one."

"Then what's stopping you?" Jackie asked and Marco looked at her in shock.

"Welllll, I'm not really good at anything," Marco said, looking at the floor with defeat.

"Aww, come on Marco. I'm sure that's not true," Jackie said, encouragingly.

"Yeah, your really good at messing things up," Janna added and Jackie whacked her arm, drawing her attention. Jackie looked to Marco meaningfully, before looking back to her friend, the creepy girl following her gaze to the discouraged boy, before shrugging her shoulders, as if to ask what Jackie wanted her to do. Jackie pointed at Marco with intensity giving Janna a chiding glare, silently telling her to say something to cheer him up. "Uhhh and by that I mean you've got to be good at something."

Marco looked up at the creepy girl with hopeful eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jackie said, not letting Janna speak and mess up Marco's mood again. "I'm sure if you look you'll find your better at stuff than you think."

Marco thought about that for a minute, before he heard a voice call his name. He and the girls turned to see Star, an entourage of servants and royals behind her, waving at the boy from across the clearing.

A smile lit up the boys face as he ran over to greet her, Jackie and Janna yelling their good-byes behind him. As he approached, he was that Star was currently dressed in what Marco referred to as her princess look: a fancy, blue dress complete with golden crown sitting atop her neatly styled blond hair. Marco waved as he ran over, Star smiling at him as she waited patiently for the boy to catch up.

"Hey Star, what's your dream?" he asked, quickly and out of breath. Star seemed surprised by the question, her face the picture of confusion.

"Huh?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Your dream," Marco explained with a smile. "Do you have one?"

"Where did that come from?"

"Jackie and Janna."

"Ahhh," Star said, nodding her head in understanding.

"Sooo," Marco pressed impatiently. "What is it?"

"Oh, umm..." Star began until one of the aristocrats interrupted. "Well obviously the princess' only dream is ruling Mewni as queen like her mother. Isn't that correct, Your Highness?"

Star turned to the regal figure looking at her expectantly, the sea of faces behind him reflecting his own perfectly, before turning back to Marco giving her that same cute, little grin he always seemed to have on.

She gave him a wain smile, nodding her head softly. "O-Of course," she said hesitantly. "What else would it be?"

Marco noticed something off about Star but decided not to bring it up in case he upset her. "Oh, that's cool," he said cheerfully, though not as strong as it had been feeling suddenly awkward. "It must be nice to have one."

"What, you don't have one?" Star asked, she could tell the boy seemed intrigued by it all and she wasn't surprised as he softly shook his head, his eyes downcast.

"No, I'm not good at anything."

"Oh, come on," the princess said, lightly punching his shoulder. "I'm sure you're good at something."

"Maybe... but how would I know?" he asked, looking at her expectantly. Suddenly, Star realized whatever he used to be good at he probably forgot after the incident. This was clearly something he valued, something important to him. And she couldn't stand seeing him torn up over this. But she had no idea what to do to make the boy feel better.

"If I may, princess," a voice from the crowd called, drawing the two's attention. "I think I may know someone who can help."

…

The knock on the door didn't surprise the room's occupant as he gently held the mug of coffee up to his lips, blowing on it lightly, hoping to cool it down. He took a sip as there was another knock, this time followed by a muffled voice shouting, "Mr. Candle are you in? I need to talk to you."

Mr. Candle set his mug down on the arm of his chair taking a relaxing sigh before calling, "Come in." He didn't bother to turn around to face his visitor, hearing the door open and close.

"Aw, Star," he said smoothly, finally turning around to face her, taking another sip of the warm coffee. "What can I do for you?"

Star smiled sheepishly at him before replying, "Sorry to interrupt... whatever it is you do here-" she said with a roll of her eyes.

But Mr. Candle immediately interrupted raising a finger in the air and matter-of-factly reciting, "Royal Mewman Research and Development Representative for Butterfly Affairs."

"Rightttt," Star said sarcastically before taking on her royal mask once again. "Well, anyways I was told your also a trained counselor."

Mr Candle's indifferent face morphed to one of surprise and honor which startled Star by the sudden change. "I knew this day would come," he said in a soft tone, setting his coffee mug down on the table, Star giving him a confused look.

"What would come?" she hesitantly asked.

"Star, I know being queen is a big responsibility," Mr. Candle began and Star immediately felt her heart pounding in her chest.

"Oh, no," she whispered in concern.

"And no one can imagine the kind of suffering your going through right now."

"Uh, Mr. Candle, you don't need to-" she began, trying desperately to get the psychiatric to stop.

"Being the ruler of an entire dimension is difficult," he continued, ignoring the princess' pleas.

"No, seriously, it's okay-"

"And it takes a lot of getting use to..."

"Please don't, just-"

"But I'm certain that with the proper amount of counseling we can take this negative situation and turn it into a positive situation," he said, taking his pointer fingers and gesturing them together so they were now crossed into what looked like a plus sign. Star face-palmed, trying desperately not to lose it here in front of him. "You really don't need to-"

"Now let's start by talking about your time a few years ago at-"

"Stop!" Star screamed, panic in her voice and features. Mr. Candle gave her a knowing look that made Star extremely uncomfortable. She took a few deep breaths as Mr. Candle just stared at her, trying desperately to calm herself. "I'm not here for me. This is for my friend."

Mr. Candle nodded in understanding. "Ah I see and is this friend of yours a princess who's dealing with the overwhelming responsibilities of being a queen."

Star opened her mouth to reply but a voice spoke up behind her. "I'm not a princess." Star turned to Marco standing in the doorway with a confused look. Mr. Candle seemed startled to see the boy.

"Princess Star, who is this?"

"This is Marco," she explained in exasperation. "The friend who I wanted you to talk to."

Mr. Candle's face never lost its look of total shock as he replied, "It seems I misjudged this situation."

"You think," Star mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Well what can I do for you, Marco?" Mr. Candle said, completely recovered from the awkward situation, all smiles once again.

Marco took a deep breath before quickly saying, "Well, I saw Jackie this morning skateboarding on this huge ramp thing and she looked so cool, and then when I asked her how she was so good she said that she has a dream of being a professional skateboarder and then Star said she wanted to become queen, and then I thought it would be really cool if I had a dream too, but I don't know what it is I'm good at and-,"

"And let me guess, you need a little _guidance_ to help figure it out." Mr. Candle interrupted and Marco nodded vigorously.

"Yes please!"

"Well looks like my work here is done. I'll leave you two to it," Star said, slowly backing out of the room, awkwardly, keeping her hands behind her back and a forced smile on her face. "You know how it is. Decisions to make, paperwork to sign, busy, busy, busy." She threw the door open ready to make her escape.

"Oh, Star," Mr. Candle called and Star flinched, hesitantly turning back to the make-shift guidance counselor. "I hope you will come to me if you have any problems in the future. I'm always here to talk."

The princess gave him a weak smile, before practically racing out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Marco looked at the door suspiciously, unable to shake the feeling that something had been off about Star, though he couldn't quite peg what it was. He hoped she was okay. Marco heard Mr. Candle clearing his throat and turned back to his new counselor. "So, Marco, why don't you have a seat?" he asked, gesturing to the empty chair on the other side of his desk.

Marco plopped himself down in the swivel chair, staring expectantly at the counselor. "So, you can really help me get a dream?"

"Welll, let's start by figuring out what it is your good at." Marco thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he said, his face suddenly looking concerned. "Did I fail?"

"No, no," Mr. Candle reassured the boy. "You can't fail this test." Marco seemed to relax once again. "So do you know if there's anything you like to do maybe?"

Marco tapped a finger on his chin, thinking. "No," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not really sure if I'm good at anything." He looked down at the desk sadly. Mr. Candle thought for a second. There has to be something he could do to...

Mr. Candle snapped his fingers, quickly pulling out the drawers to his desk, searching for something. "Mr. Candle?" Marco asked, leaning forward so he could watch the psychiatric.

"I think I might have something," Mr. Candle explained, riffling through his cluttered paperwork. "Ah!" he said, finally finding the source of his search: a large, black book. He lifted it up with a grunt, before setting it hard on his desk with a loud thud. Marco looked at the title that was currently upside down, " _Hobbies: A Guidebook to Life_ ".

"Hobbies?" Marco read in confusion.

"Yep, I believe this book will make figuring out what it is your good at much simpler," the counselor assured, patting the hard cover of the book, fondly.

"How's that?" Marco asked, looking the object over with curiosity.

"Well in order to have a dream, you first have to figure out what it is your good at and then you can move on to the next step."

"What's that?"

Mr. Candle gave him a smile. "Working for it." He pushed the book toward the boy, flipping it so it was now facing him. Marco slowly opened the book to a random page, sifting through it, reading random passages. He looked up at Mr. Candle who watched him expectantly.

"So what do I do with it?"

"My suggestion, find some things you like and try them out," Mr. Candle said with a shrug.

Marco looked down at the page he was currently on, a picture of a skateboard illustrated in bright, bold print catching his wandering eye. "Huhhh."

…

"Teach me to skateboard!" Jackie and Janna stared at Marco blankly, before Marco quickly added, "Please?" He held up his hands in a begging motion, his eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"Why do you want to skateboard?" Jackie asked in confusion.

"Welllll," Marco started, before flipping a scroll of paper into the two's face, making them lean back in fright. "Mr. Candle said I needed to try different things and so I thought since Jackie is so good at skateboarding she could show me the ropes."

Janna's look of fear changed to her signature smug smile as she asked, "Want me to teach you how to pick-pocket?" Janna replied and Jackie turned to her with a glare.

"I don't know what that means, but no," Marco replied, his voice never losing its positivity.

Janna shrugged, "Your loss."

Jackie stepped forward. "Well, I'd be happy to show you a few things if you're willing to learn."

Marco nodded. "I am."

"Then let's get you suited up," Jackie said, pulling out another helmet and knee and shoulder pads.

"What are these for?" Marco asked as she began putting them on the boy.

"Safety." Jackie explained latching the helmet securely under Marco's chin. "This will keep your head from getting hurt." Marco looked up at the helmet as the rest of pads were put on. For a moment, he remembered the other night when he almost slipped in the shower, his skull coming way too close to getting bashed in to the wet, soupy floor. Maybe he should...

"There," Jackie said as the final pad was put in place, distracting the boy from his inner thoughts. "Done." She rose up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Ready." Marco nodded. Jackie laid the skateboard down in front of him and he stepped onto it.

She began pulling him along, holding tightly on to his hands, giving him tips and advice as they went. Marco at first stood frozen in place, looking down at the rotating wheels nervously, holding Jackie's hands with a death grip, but he quickly grew use to being on the moving board, Jackie's words of advice calming him, standing confidently with a controlled smile on his face. "Wow, this is super easy," Marco said, and Jackie smiled.

"Glad to here it," she replied. "Want to try it on your own?" Marco nodded, now confident he had this down.

"Great! Just keep your balance and you should be fine." With that, Jackie pushed him off, the boy now trying to keep his balance without Jackie's helping hand. Marco's arms flung around wildly for a moment, until he found his momentum once again, standing tall and straight on the board, his feet in the right positions, his whole body relaxed but ready, his-

"Marco!" Jackie screamed, drawing his attention to her as she pointed behind him. "Look out-"

Marco swerved just in time to see the wall towering over his small form, the skateboard helping close the distance between the two, before the world ignited in a flurry of brightly lit colors and shapes that consumed the boy's bleary and broken vision. Jackie and Janna both cringed as the loud smack sounded around the area, quickly running over to check on Marco and the board. He lay awkwardly on his back, the suns on his cheeks having transformed into a spinning swirl, the skateboard laying next to him, upside down, its wheels spinning in synchronization with the boy's cheeks. "Dude, are you okay?" Jackie asked in concern, bending down to the boy's level, cupping his head in her hands. Marco moaned in pain, rubbing his head from beneath the helmet.

"Ow," he groaned. "I thought you said it would protect me."

"Well, your not dead," Janna stated as Jackie helped the boy to his feet.

"That was pretty good, Marco," Jackie said with an encouraging smile.

"Up until you hit the wall," Janna added, matter-of-factly. Marco frowned, realizing this was going to be a lot harder than he thought. Jackie picked up the fallen skateboard, pushing them into Marco's hands.

"One more go," she said and the boy's eyes widened with panic.

"Are you crazy?!" he exclaimed, pushing the skateboard away. He began hastily pulling at the straps of the helmet, trying desperately to get the thing off. "I can't do that again! I-I-I-"

"Marco!" Jackie's voice had a scolding tone to it and Marco was so put off by the bizarre change in her normally laid-back behavior he froze, he and Janna both staring at her in silent shock. She stared back at him, intensely, and added in a much gentler tone, "Everybody falls off a skateboard at least once." She pushed the skateboard back into his hands, once again. "The important thins is getting back on."

Marco stared at the girl, then down to the skateboard, then back up to his friend. Her eyes were wide with intensity as they watched the boy's every nervous move. He sighed in defeat, quietly saying, "Okay, I'll... try it again."

The light-haired girl gave him a proud smile before setting the skateboard back up for him, helping him on. Once he was situated, Jackie quickly said to him. "Now this time, just keeping looking straight ahead." Marco nodded nervously, struggling to keep his balance on the board.

"Hey." Marco looked up at the girl, her eyes shining with confidence. "You got this."

Marco let out a shaky breath, as the girl pushed him forward, at first Marco seemed panicked but he quickly recovered, situating himself on the board like Jackie had shown him, maneuvering the board around obstacles and objects in the way. He was still shaky and unsure, but he seemed rather skilled there on the board.

The two girls watched in awe as the boy rolled around the make-shift obstacle course, turning in circles to watch him go. "Wow," Janna said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "He's pretty good."

Jackie nodded next to her, surprised by the boy's almost immediate improvement. "Yeah, he's a natural."

"Ow!" Marco screamed, as his skateboard hit a rock, sending him flying off it and tumbling to the floor.

"Well, almost a natural."

Marco sat up, spitting dirt and gravel out of his mouth, as he quickly removed the helmet from his head. He looked around finding the skateboard laying once again at his feet, its wheels spinning endlessly in the air and he sighed glad he hadn't broken it.

"Not bad," Janna called over to the boy, Marco looking up to the two smiling faces a short distance away. Marco looked back and forth from the creepy girl to her partner.

"Yeah, dude, that was pretty cool," Jackie yelled with a smile.

Marco rubbed the back of his neck, shyly. "Thanks. For some reason it was a lot easier that time." He stood, picking up the skateboard and helmet off the floor, making his way over to the two waiting girls. Marco handed the helmet and skateboard back to Jackie. "Thanks for letting me try it out, it was actually pretty cool."

"No problem, Marco, any time," Jackie answered.

"So now that that's over, what now?" Janna asked impatiently.

"Wellll," Marco suddenly pulled out the piece of paper from his hoodie pocket again. "There are a few more things I wanted to try out and I was hoping you two would help me."

Jackie took the list away from the boy, looking it over in her hands, Janna coolly responding from behind her, "Ah, why not? Not like we got anything better to do."

"Really, thanks," Marco said, sounding generally grateful and surprised at the creepy girl's willingness to help him, wondering to himself if the two were actually starting to become friends.

"Soooo," Janna continued, taking an unnerving step closer to the boy, the two's fingers almost brushing as she gave him a weird, knowing smile. "How about we add something really cool to that list like... _raising the dead._ "

Marco face filled with fear, as he took a step away from the girl. "Uhhh, no thank you. That's okay," he nervously responded, the uncomfortable feeling returning once again. Or maybe not.

"Umm, Marco," Jackie said, drawing the two's attention to her once again. "How many things are on here?"

"Just whatever sounded cool," Marco replied, as Janna stepped over so she could read the list from over her friend's shoulder.

"Skateboarding, archery, karate, ping pong, _mountain climbing_ ," Janna skeptically read. She looked up at the boy. "Geez, How long is this list?"

Just then, the list unfolded fully, spreading out across the floor, Marco having to move out of the way to let it unroll fully.

Janna sighed. "Well there goes the rest of our day," the girl stated with a dead-panned stare.

...

It was now night, the three friends, Jackie, Janna, and Marco, had gathered together in the boy's room after a long day of fun and often dangerous activities. They had gone through the entire list over the course of the day, the boy trying and often failing at almost every activity at first, most of the attempts often ending with something catching on fire, though that may have been due to the fact that Janna had tagged along. Marco had often gotten discouraged, but with Jackie and Janna's support (mostly Jackie's) the boy had tried again and again finding the task's easier the more he did them, something just clicking in his mind.

But now the day was over and the list was finished, Jackie, and her roommate who was currently peeking over her shoulder, currently had her face buried in the paper, silently tallying up the points in her head. The boy hovered around them, waiting impatiently for the girl's to give him their results, practically bobbing up and down with excitement. "Soooooooo," Marco said, leaning in closer and closer to the two, looking at them expectantly. "What does it say? What am I good at?"

"Umm," Jackie said hesitantly, giving the list one last look over before looking over at the boy. "All of them."

Marco's smile fell, looking at her confusingly. "What?"

"You did good at all of them," Jackie explained. "Like every single one."

"Yeah, you always started off really terrible at them," Janna started. "Like realllly terrible..."

"Which was expected since it was your first time doing all of these things," Jackie butted in, trying to keep the over-emotional boy from getting upset.

"But then you'd just pick it up almost immediately afterwards." Janna finished. "I mean, it wasn't exactly perfect, but you did show some obvious skills."

Marco looked down at the piece of paper still in Jackie's hands, feeling lost and confused. "But... how is that even possible?" he asked, looking around at the two for answers.

Jackie bit her lip, clearly deep in thought. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I've never seen anybody pick this stuff up so quickly."

"Well I know what this is," Janna stated, her voice sounding dull and uninterested. Jackie and Marco both turned to her in shock, simultaneously asking, "What?!"

Janna raised an eyebrow at them, saying, "Really? I mean, Jackie's not really from around here, but still I thought you, Marco, at least would know a Trait when you see one."

"A what?" Marco asked, cocking his head to the side and Janna sighed in exasperation, looking away with a roll of her eyes.

"A Mewman Trait. A magical ability that all Mewmans posses, each specific and unique to each person, yadda, yadda, yadda," Janna explained in a bored tone.

"Ohhh, right," Jackie said, finally remembering the special skill the people of this world possessed. "So then Marco's Trait has something to do with his ability to pick up on things so quickly."

"Exactly," Janna said pointing to her friend in acknowledgment. "It seems our dear Marco has some pretty advanced learning skills. I'd wager what takes most people months, Marco could knock out in just a few short weeks."

"So then, what your saying is I can do _anythin_ g," Marco said, his eyes widening with every word.

"More or less," Janna said, nonchalantly shrugging.

"Of course you'll have your limits," Jackie took over. "But you can pretty much do anything you put your mind too."

"That's gonna save you a lot of time catching up, right Marco," Janna teased, elbowing the boy in the shoulder, but Marco didn't respond, looking helplessly down at the list, his face scrunching up with worry. The two girl's stared at him for a moment, confused by his sudden and sporadic mood shift, sharing a look of confusion, unsure why the boy was so upset over this exciting news.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Jackie asked, taking a few steps closer, as Janna backed away from him uncomfortably, allowing her friend to take over this tense situation. Marco looked up at her with distant eyes, his whole face looking lost and hurt. "Aren't you happy?" Marco shook his head, slowly.

"Why would I be? I mean, this whole day was to see what I was good at, to help narrow it down so I could get a dream," Marco explained, his eyes lowering to the floor. "That's step one. But if I'm really good at everything then that means that I _can't_ narrow it down." Marco's eyes were wide with terror, his mind spiraling out of control. "And if I can't narrow it down, does that mean I have to have a million dream?!"

"What?!" Jackie exclaimed. "No, Marco, that's not what that means at all." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and he gazed at her anxiously.

"R-Really?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion.

"Of course not," Janna spoke up, sounding annoyed. "Who told you that anyway?"

"Mr. Candle."

The two girls sighed in harmony, looking annoyed. "That figures," Janna grumbled under her breath, Jackie shaking her head in anger.

"Marco, having a dream isn't just about being good at something, it's about doing what you love," Jackie explained, giving him a reassuring smile.

"But... I don't know what that is," he said, biting his lip.

"Well, that's the fun part," Jackie said, with a shrug. "You get to find out."

Marco looked down for a moment, thinking over the girl's words, unable to help but think of the time he had spent amongst Toffee and the other monster's, how he had desired to learn and grow so much, to get to leave the dark walls of the castle and see what all was out there in rest of Mewni. But maybe his bizarre curiosity had been about something more, maybe what he really been desiring was to learn more about himself and what he could offer the world outside. He had always known that there was more for him out there and now here, among Star and the other Mewmans, he could finally discover what that was he was meant to do. Here he had no limits to the possibilities at store.

He smiled, knowing the girl was right, maybe he didn't have all the answers just yet. But maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Here he could do and be whatever it was he wanted and he had all the time in the world to figure it out. Not that he would be doing it alone. He had three great friends by his side to help him along the way. Marco looked up at the white-haired girl gratefully, knowing that she had given him something that he had never had before... a future.

…

Star released a shaky breath, hunched over her vanity, her whole body shaking and shuddering as tears streamed down her face. She shut her eyes tight, hoping to stop the tears from falling, but they didn't obey her commands, merely streaming down her face anew. She sobbed once, trying to hold herself together, afraid to let her mask break even alone in her room. She look up at her reflection in the mirror with bleary eyes, her hair messy and unkept, her princess' crown laying half-haphazardly on the floor as if she had thrown it, her eyes were blood-shot, her face looking pathetic with the dried tear marks running down them, her twin hearts shattered in half. She sniffed, plopping down in her chair, pulling her legs up to her chest. She looked to her small mirror phone, the text on the tiny screen reading, "7 missed calls from Mom".

Her hands tightened around her legs, as she softly whispered, "At least you can have a dream, Marco. My days for dreaming are... over."

With that the girl buried her head into her legs and wept.

 **And thus ends another chapter! Hope you all enjoyed, even if I did end on a bit of a sad note there. So, in case your wondering, the original thought process for this chapter was, "Hmmm, where can I put in Mr. Candle into the story?" And then I made a chapter about it. Who would have thought that it would lead to an important plot point? I did really like this chapter, and it was fun to play around with Jackie and Janna's relationship with Marco as his friends and focus a bit away from Starco for a chapter. But don't worry all you shippers out there, Starco will be back up and running very shortly and the next chapter will be a whole lot fluffier. Well, as fluffy as you can be when your introducing To-**

 **Whoops. Almost gave away the big twist there. Want to save the reveal of him and Pony Head for later... Dang it.**

 ***chuckles nervously* Just ignore that last part. Anyways, thank you all once again for all the love and support for my story and the next chapter will be up in two weeks like I had planned, because of you! You are all amazing and words can't express the gratitude I feel to have fans like you! Have a great two weeks and I'll see you all next time!**

 **Pluvia-Drop14- Both! I've always believed that the best relationships start off as friends. So yeah, in order to be the best ship they can be, they have to start off as friends first and just watch the relationship grow from there. I'm glad you enjoyed and thanks for the comment:)**

 **Christopherprime22- Aww, I loved the song! I can see how this could push you into the whole Starco thing, it does fit them both so well. I loved everything, especially picturing Marco singing this to Star, how CUTTTEE! *w* Now if only it happened in the show! Get to it Disney!**

 **As for my Drop Pop Candy I'm so glad you liked it! If you don't mind the suggestion there is a Starco animatic for this song, by "m k". It's pretty cute and worth checking out, trust me.**

 **Don't worry though, that's not my pick for a song, just a suggestion. So in keeping in theme with yours, what really tipped the balance for me for Starco came a lot from getting internet for the first time and reading fan fictions here on this site, but the song that I think made me become such a hardcore Starco fan for life was a song called, "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada. I fell in love with it the first time I heard it and just adored the idea of matching it with my cute, adorable Starco. Also, thanks for the concern, everything is just great now that my schedule is back up on it's feet, the song really helped get me inspired for writing this chapter, so thanks so much for that! ;)**

 **SJMT shipper- *gasps* Ohmygosh! Your back! Yay! Wait, not yay. Oh my gosh, your both hurt and sick! Awwww, I feel so bad for you! But I am thankful both you and FG are okay. I was wondering what happened when I didn't hear from your overly excited voices for awhile, but I just figured you two were busy with life and stuff. Turns out you both got hurt! *cries dramatically* Well, at least you still enjoyed the chapter that involved Marco tripping on stuff and messing things up, and even slipping on a soapy floooor... :\ I'm not sure how I feel about that.**

 **Well anyways, you two get feeling better soon! I can't stand the idea of two of my favorite fans being hurt! Let the Starco fluff comfort you in your time of need. And also, hugs, cause hugs always make me feel better. *gives them both get-better-soon hugs* Hugggs!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks (Right before the new season starts up, Yes!)**


	7. Tom and Pony Head pt 1

Chapter 6: Tom and Pony Head pt. 1

 **Hi everyone! It's so good to be back with another awesome chapter for you! Thank you all so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows they just mean so much to me. Like seriously, you have no idea! So yeah this one is going to be a two-parter as I just didn't have enough time to finish it completely this week, because life. :/ I don't really want to do these too often but I gotta do what I gotta do to get these out on time and this one went a lot longer than what I originally thought. (Hint, hint. It's big!) So without further ado I will leave you all to it. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

It was another quiet evening in the Butterfly Castle, a perfect follow-up to another hectic and stress-filled day for the Mewnian Princess, and Star was grateful for the peace and quiet she was allowed to experience here in the solitude of her room. She had just come from her and Marco's usual meet-up from the top of the tower, the setting sun filling her with a content and warm feeling that had left her feeling exhausted, as the stressful energy she had been using to plow through the day dissolved, leaving her tired and sore.

Marco, on the other hand, had been extra chatty that night, going on and on about all the things he was learning, having practically memorized the book Mr. Candle had given him and trying out a large number of them with Jackie and Janna. Star had just smiled and listened, finding the boy's hyper but positive energy addictive, his child-like innocence making him _way_ too cute for words. She made a mental note to buy him more books as soon as possible, Marco's obvious thirst for knowledge giving her yet another reason to spoil the boy needlessly. Not that she cared. But once the sun had set and the stars began filling the night sky above Mewni, she had decided it was best to call it quits and head for bed, wishing her friend a good night before leaving for her room.

So now she was content in the silence of her room, stretching out on her bed, releasing a deep sigh, as she closed her tired eyes, letting them rest for the first time since waking up that morning. But her peace was shattered as she heard a soft thump from her window as something hard tapped up against it. Star's eyes flew up and she let out a annoyed groan, pulling her tired body off of her soft bed and stomping over to her window, throwing it open in a huff. She leaned out the window, looking down at the source of the commotion with annoyance.

But her face quickly switched from a frown to a smile as she saw the two characters hanging below her window, staring up at her. One was a teenage boy around Star's age. He had pale, purpulish skin and flaming red hair, that was stylishly spiked around the duel horns sticking out of the top of his head. He had three eyes, one located in the center of his forehead, all of them a deep red color. On his cheeks were two tiny flames that shrank or grew with his emotions, which meant they shifted around a lot. He wore a tattered red shirt and black shorts cut below the knees in an obvious style choice, and black boots. He smiled up at the girl with a tooth grin, exposing his sharp fangs. The other was a floating, blue unicorn head with a pink mane that constantly flowed even in the lack of an obvious wind source. She was giving Star a sassy look as she floated next to the boy, sparkles of all colors constantly flowing out of the bottom of her neck, disintegrating into the empty air where her body should be.

"Hey guys!" Star called to them, giving them an enthusiastic wave, all signs of fatigue gone from her now recharged body.

"Hey," Tom confidently called back, giving her the tiniest of nods, while next to him Pony Head screamed, "What up B-Fly?!"

"What are you two doing here?" she asked, leaning more comfortably on the windowsill.

"We heard you've been locked up inside that castle for way too long," Tom said.

"And we decided to bust you out!" Pony Head finished with a yell. "So, girl, are you ready to parr-tty?!"

"Oh, yeah, am I ever," Star said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "But how do I get down?"

"Got you covered," Tom replied, showing Star the long rope he had brought with him and Star gave him a mischievous grin.

She descended the rope quickly, landing lightly on the ground, her friends walking over to greet her.

Once her feet were planted firmly on the floor, Tom asked, "So ready to get going?"

"Hey Star!" The three froze, looking up to Star's still-opened window, Marco leaning out of it, looking down at them with a wide smile. "Who are these two?"

Star opened her mouth to reply when she heard a voice hiss behind her, "Star?" She turned to see Tom staring at her, his face dark with suspicion. "Who exactly is that?" he continued, pointing an accusing finger up at the boy. Next to him, Pony Head raised an eyebrow at the girl, her face looking equally as suspicious.

"I guess introductions are in order, huh?" Star asked, with a sheepish smile.

"Ah, yeah that would be nice," Pony Head huffed in annoyance, rolling her eyes.

"Tom, Pony Head this is Marco," she said, gesturing up to the boy. "Marco, these are my old friends, Tom and Pony Head," she yelled up to him.

"Hi," he called down to the two with a wave. But Tom and Pony Head didn't respond, glaring up at the boy, and he stopped waving, feeling suddenly awkward.

"Uh yeah, right," Pony Head responded with a roll of her eyes, turning away from the boy and floating closer to Star. "So where exactly did you pick up the turd, anyway, girl?" Pony Head asked, in a loud whisper. Tom just continued to stare at the two with an angry frown, arms crossed, his cheek flames glowing bigger with every passing second.

"Marco's an orphan," the blond explained to her friend. "We met..." Her cheeks turning bright pink as she remembered their first meeting, how he had spied on her from the tree. "... a while ago."

"What are you guys talking about?" Marco asked cheerfully, yelling to draw their attention to him once again.

"Nothing," Star quickly exclaimed, whipping back around to face the boy, hands behind her back, ignoring the suspicious stares of her friends burning into her skin.

"Oh, okay," Marco replied, in his usual fashion, shooting her another adorable smile. "Sooo what are you guys doing?" he asked, innocently.

"Oh, umm-" Star's brain went blank as she tried to think up a liable excuse, turning to her old friends for support, but they were too busy glaring up at the boy to be of any help. She turned back to Marco hesitantly saying, "Just going to town for a bit."

"Cool, can I come?!" Marco asked loudly, his eyes starting to shine with wonder.

"Shhhh," Star and the others hissed, Star putting a finger to her lips. Marco looked between the three with a questioning gaze, feeling very confused by the strange reaction. Star took a deep breath, explaining to the startled boy, "We're trying not to let the others know about that."

"Why?" Marco asked innocently.

"Because, um... because," Star bit her lip, deep in thought. "We don't want to worry the others. They would needlessly get upset, so it's better if we don't tell them I'm sneaki- I mean, visiting other places for the night." Star smiled nervously at Marco, who continued to just stare at her.

"So another words your sneaking out and don't want anyone to know," Marco replied simply and Star's mouth dropped open that the boy managed to guess.

"Uh, yeah," Star said in shock. "That's actually right."

"He's smarter than he looks, actually," Pony Head mumbled to Tom with an eye roll.

Star turned back to the two for a moment, giving them a look that said let-me-handle-this, before turning back to her hooded friend. "So then you understand that the others can't know I'm gone?"

Marco nodded. "Yep, I get it," he replied. But the smile quickly faded from his face, replaced with a look of fear, his eyes widening. "But what if the others come looking for you, while your gone?"

"Why would they-" Star started, but Marco quickly interrupted.

"What if they insist on searching your room?" Marco continued, his mind spiraling out of control, his body practically shaking with worry. "What if they blame me for letting you go out alone?"

"Technically she's not alone," Tom grumbled, arms still crossed and his eyes narrowing in anger.

"Okay, don't panic," Marco shouted, more to himself then the others, who just watched him in shock and/or skepticism. "You go into town and I'll stay here and make sure no one comes in your room. You know what, just to be on the safe side I better go run and tell everyone in the castle that your in your room and that your not to be disturbed." With that, Marco disappeared from view, heading off to put his plan into motion.

"Marco, wait!" Star called after him, trying to get his attention but he was already gone.

"So." Star turned to see Tom and Pony Head looking at her blankly. "Let me guess," Tom continued. "He has to come with us, doesn't he?"

Star chuckled nervously, as her old friends eyes narrowed in annoyance.

…

The four walked into town together, Tom and Pony in the lead looking angry, and Star and Marco following a little ways behind them. Star held Marco's hand, guiding him through the nearly empty streets, ignoring the tingling feeling she got from contact with his soft skin. Tom kept looking back at the two, feeling a growing sense of jealousy as he walked. He groaned in anger, looking to the floating unicorn head next to him, furiously asking, "Just who does that dork think he is?"

"I have no idea. I mean, we did just meet him," Pony answered, also sounding annoyed.

"And what was she doing not telling us?" Tom continued, ignoring the flying horse head. " _We're_ here best friends not that... that..."

"Turd," Pony finished, eyes narrowing as she looked back at the boy, acting all lost and dazed as Star led him along. "Yeah, he's got to go. But don't worry your flame-retardant head, boy. I got a plan to make B-Fly remember who her _real_ bestie is."

"Yeah!" Tom quietly cheered, giving her a toothy grin. Tom stared at her for a moment before he added, "You mean both of us, right?"

"Huh?" Pony said, looking back to Tom in a daze. "Uh, yeah. Sure, sure." She leaned closer to the boy, whispering, " Anyways all we got to do is..."

"So how do you guys know each other?" Marco asked Star, who seemed distracted staring at the two in front of her with concern.

"Huh?" She swerved around to face Marco, ignoring the slight jolt of her heart as his brown eyes focused on her face. "Oh, me, Tom, and Pony go way back. Are families are all allies so we've been friends pretty much since we were kids."

"You must be close then," Marco admired. Star hesitated, saying nothing, averting her eyes so he couldn't see the pain behind them. Marco leaned in a little closer, trying to get a look at her face. "Star?" Marco asked in concern.

Star finally turned to him, a weak smile spread on her lips. "We use to be before..." she said, her voice barely a whisper, eyes dropping to the floor once again.

"Before what?" Marco said, leaning closer in, squeezing her hand tighter.

Tom nodded his head in admiration at the unicorn's plan, as Pony Head gave him a knowing look. "Yeah that sounds-" Tom's voice cut off as he saw Star and Marco holding hands, their faces just inches from touching. Pony also followed his gaze, spotting the two, before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Here we go," she groaned in annoyance.

"Hey!" Star and Marco jumped as Tom's angered voice echoed around the area, the hot-headed teen glaring angrily at the hooded boy, eyes glowing faintly red, the flames on his cheeks growing in size in reaction to his anger. Marco didn't seem affected though, cocking his head to the side, giving him a confused look. Tom's gaze jumped to Star. "Seriously?!" he huffed in anger, his voice practically shaking with mirth.

"What?" Star asked in confusion. Tom's eyes began darting back and forth between her face and her hand still intertwined with Marco's. He let out a deep sigh, his cheek flames snuffing out instantly. "Never mind."

"Soooo," Pony interrupted, floating over to the two pushing Marco out of the way. "How about you and me hit the town? Cause a ruckus? Break some rules? You know just like the good ol' days."

"Wellll, that does sound like funnn..." Star hesitantly said, trying to ignore the awkward feeling she was getting as Pony closed in on her. "But what about Marco?" she asked, trying to peak around Pony and get a good look at the boy.

"Awww, he's fine," Pony continued, quickly turning to the boy, who stood there in a hesitant daze. "Right Mango?"

"Actually it's Marco-"

"Yeah no one cares," Pony interrupted, turning immediately back to Star. "Besides Tom will look after him, right T?"

"Oh, yeah," Tom said, his voice sounding dark, his eyes narrowing with every syllable. "I'll definitely keep a _close_ eye on Marco."

There was a short moment of silence as Tom just glared at Marco, who looked around at the others awkwardly, unsure what to do or say. Finally, Star spoke up, stepping around Pony so she was now between her two old friends and her new one. "Uhh, no that's okay, Tom," Star said, hands behind her back in an innocent gesture. "I'm sure Marco will be just fine on his own, right Marco?" She turned to the boy her eyes shining with cuteness, as they focused on him. Marco looked deep into Star's eyes, feeling the need to voice his growing concern. He didn't know the streets of Mewni very well yet, most of his navigation taking place in the castle, and he wasn't sure he was confident enough to keep up with the fast moving trio. But he could also tell that Star needed this, could tell by the desperation in her voice and eyes that she needed to stay with her old friends and that would never happen if she spent the whole trip fussing over him. He didn't want to be in the way and he hated the idea of being a hindrance to the girl who had done literally everything for him.

So he swallowed back his comment, saying, "Yeah, sure."

"Aww yeah, come on B-Fly we got a lot of catching up to do!" Pony yelled, already flying off ahead of the group, Tom following quickly after, looking upset.

Star turned back to Marco asking, "You sure you'll be okay?"

Marco gave her a tight smile. "Of course, go on ahead. I'll be fine."

Star stared at him a moment longer before hesitantly nodding her head, following after her friends. The second she turned away, Marco's smile dropped as he was forced to tag along after the trio, slowly making up the rear of their party.

…

The trio walked for a while, Star between her old friends, trying to look happy but unable to stop herself from looking back every couple of seconds to check on Marco, who seemed to be gaining more and more distance between them, having to run just to keep up. Pony caught her looking back and stopped, watching the girl's worried face. She looked to Tom, who also noticed Star's change in attitude and the two nodded, ready to put their plan in motion.

"Hey B-Fly," Pony excitedly cheered, making the blond girl jump. "How about we have some real fun?!"

"What kind of fun?" Star asked, trying not to sound skeptical of her old, cooler friend.

"Well I'll bet with that new wand of yours you can do all kinds of things," Pony said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Star looked at her wand peeking out of her cloud purse, feeling her stomach twist with worry. _Oh no_ , she thought, having a pretty good idea of where they were going with this.

She chuckled nervously, her hand instinctively hiding the purse from view. "Oh, no you don't want me to use my wand. It's totally boring. Why don't we go hit the Bounce Lounge like we use to," she supplied, hoping Pony and Tom would take notice of her nervousness and take her lead for once.

They didn't. "Aww, come on, Star," Tom pitched in now. "Don't be modest. I bet you could do just about anything with that wand."

"Yeah," Pony took over and Star got the feeling that this whole thing was planned out. "Like, I don't know, scaring that guy over there." She gestured to a Mewman sitting on a bench, reading a newspaper.

Star looked between the expecting faces of her friends, skeptically. "You want me to use my wand to play pranks on people?"

"Uh, yeah," Tom said. "It'll be hilarious."

Star bit her lip. "I don't know..."

Pony Head groaned. "Come on, girl. He has it coming. I mean who reads a newspaper in the middle of the night, anyways?"

Star looked down at her wand, trying to decide what course to take.

"Look you wanna still be the super cool princess you used to be..." Pony said.

"Used to be," Star whispered softly.

"...or do you want to be another one of those rubber stamp princesses we use to make fun of."

Star's gaze dropped to the floor, feeling trapped between her two friends, both literally and figuratively. _What was the problem?_ She reasoned with herself. _It was just a few harmless pranks? It wasn't like she was hurting anyone? Right?_ She wasn't so sure though, something about it just felt wrong.

Tom could tell she was battling inside herself and decided it was best to give her a little more incentive. "You would have done it," he said, crossing his arms and giving the princess a knowing look. "Y'know... _before_."

Star's eyes widened in panic, her grip tightening around her wand. Was he right? Was that really true? Would Star have given in to their prank war, just because? She had no idea. In that moment, she had no way of knowing what she would have done before or if they were right. All she knew was she wasn't the princess she used to be and the only people who did know were right there beside her. Right now, she felt like a husk of her former self and she needed them to help her become the Star Butterfly she used to be and wished to be again. So she had to prove herself to them, no matter what.

So she took a deep breath, lifting her wand in front of her, magic beginning to gather. Pony and Tom smiled as a spider appeared behind the man, its sticky saliva dripping off its massive fangs and onto the crumpled newspaper. The man frowned, turning in his seat and screamed seeing the huge spider towering over him, jumping out of his chair and running for his life, passing the trio in a hurry. Tom and Pony laughed as the fake spider spell wore off, disappearing from view. Star lowered her wand, watching the laughing faces of her friends intently, ignoring the guilty feeling she had growing in the pit of her stomach.

"Man that was riot!" Tom gasped out, wiping a tear from his eye.

"What an idiot!" Pony added, before the two burst into laughter once again. Star gave a forced chuckle, her hands fidgeting with the hilt of her wand. Finally, the laughing fit died down, as the teens regained control of their breathing. "That was priceless," Pony laughed. "You have to try that again, B-Fly!"

Star gave her a thin smile. "O-Okay."

Marco panted, finally seeing Star and her friends a little ways ahead of him. For a moment he had been afraid he had lost them, but at last he had finally managed to catch up. He was about to call out to them but just then a man ran by, screaming at the top of his lungs, "SPIDERRRR!" Marco froze, watching him go, feeling a growing sense of concern for the poor Mewman, wondering what it was that had upset him so much.

Marco turned back to the others, about to call out and see if they knew what was wrong, but they were already headed off again to some location that was still unknown to the boy. The boy watched the for a second, unsure what to do, until Star turned to him giving him a reassuring smile, gesturing for him to come with. He smiled before running off after the three.

…

Star continued her pranking spree on the unsuspecting people of Mewni under the guidance and direction of her friends, who kept daring her to go bigger and bigger with her jinx. They started off simple, doing things like making mustaches appear on the Mewmans faces, cutting the invisible chains on the giant invisible goats that pulled all the wagons, making the blacksmith's hammer scream every time it hit up against something, turning the shop windows into mirrors that showed you your greatest nightmares, just the basics. But as they continued, Star became more and more comfortable with the wand trying out more difficult and crazy pranks, trying desperately to impress her friends, doing things like turning all the stairways she could find into large slip 'n slides, giving all the cats human faces, trapping the local mime inside an actual invisible box, and turning all the golf balls into sentient beings that started up their own little societies that became solely dependent on the outcome of the game, creating a rift between the different tribes, eventually leading to war. But Tom and Pony didn't seem to understand the last one, Star reasoning that that was because it was too complex for them to grasp.

And though Star seemed like she was smiling and laughing on the outside, inside Star felt a growing sense of guilt consuming her, feeling bad for tricking the people she was sworn to protect. But Tom and Pony continued to pressure her asking her to give more and more of something she was not comfortable with. She tried to reassure herself that all the spells would wear off within twenty-four hours but it did little to soothe her. She knew what she was doing was wrong and yet she didn't have the strength to tell her friends no.

The only comfort Star found was from Marco, turning back to the boy who seemed to be keeping a distance from the three, just watching from the side-lines giving Star her space so she could be with her friends. Everytime she did he would just give her a cute smile and a thumbs up, letting her know he was okay. And she would return the smile, before turning her attention back on her old friends, getting ready to perform another prank, feeling her cheeks warm as she felt Marco's stare on her back.

"How about you take this one, girl?" Pony said, after one such interaction.

Star felt her heart pound away in her chest as Tom and Pony looked at her intently, waiting for her reply. "Oh, ummm..." Star desperately racked her brain for an idea with no luck, her mind had gone completely blank at the worst possible time. She looked around her at the courtyard that surrounded them, hoping to find inspiration in the nearly empty streets. Finally her eyes came to rest on the possum statue that had been there for about as long as Star could remember. She wasn't sure how it had gotten there or what it was used for, but it was the only thing she had. "How about I move that statue over there?" she said hesitantly, pointing at the object with her wand.

Tom and Pony followed her gaze, silently staring at the statue and Star held her wand up to her face, trying to hide her nervousness behind it. The two troublemakers looked at each other and shrugged, or the closest thing a flying unicorn head could come to shrugging. "Eh, could be funny?"

Star breathed a mental sigh of relief as she turned all her attention on the marble object. She held her wand out, letting the pink magic gather, as she tried to think of the right spell to use. She nodded to herself as her brain drew the spell from the deep corners of her mind. She took a deep breath before reciting, "Levitato!" her wand instantly reacting, shooting out the pink energy and lifting the statue up into the air. She smiled at her success, looking behind her at Marco, who's eyes were wide with wonder just like they were the first day they met and she felt a pride growing in her chest. She looked back to the statue, only for her smile to fade as the statue was flung this way and that, her wand quickly losing control of the object as Star's attention was drawn elsewhere. Star tried to recover, gripping her wand tighter and trying to focus all her attention on landing the thing, but her inexperience made controlling it impossible, as it was flung around the courtyard, crashing into several walls and knocking over carts of tradeable goods. The few people still in the courtyard, watched the flying statue with horror, several ducking down to avoid getting hit. "Star!" Tom and Pony both screamed at the girl to do something. Star grunted as she pulled hard on the wand, trying to get it to respond and finally it did, the statue sent plummeting to the earth below, landing hard on its side with a loud crash. Somehow the statue survived but it was sent skidding across the cobbled streets.

For a moment, everyone remained frozen just staring at the statue in silence. Then a random person from the crowd screamed, "The statue lives! The end is upon us!" And with that, the courtyard exploded into a hectic chaos, everyone screaming and running for their lives, the courtyard somehow lighting itself on fire, as the people ran around willy-nilly, knocking anything over that got in their way.

"Wow that spiraled quickly," Tom muttered, the others staring in shock and awe at the destruction of the scene in front of them, nodding their heads slowly in agreement.

"Run!" Pony screamed, floating off scene as quickly as possible.

"Good idea," Tom agreed, Star and him following quickly after her, Star following a bit slower. She looking back at the disaster area she had left the street in, feeling guilt gnaw away at her insides. Then, suddenly, one of the crumpled walls the statue had slammed into caved, collapsing and crumbling to the ground, heading right for a creature covered head to toe in light blue hair, who stood frozen watching the chaotic scene blankly. Star came to a stop, feeling her heart do the same, about to yell and warn it about the impending danger quickly descending on its unsuspecting head.

"Look out!" Star turned to see Marco, with a determined look on his face, running at the creature, who turned to see the hooded boy quickly approaching it, simply blinking in shock. The boy hit it full-force knocking both of them out of the way of the crumbling building, the debris missing them by mere inches.

Marco slowly rose to his knees, looking down at the creature he had just saved, who just stared at him blankly. He could feel an awkward tension form as it's gaze rested on him. "Um, are you... okay?" The hairy creature said nothing, just blinking once. "Do you maybe want to stand?" No response, just another blink. "Okay I'm gonna get off so you can get up now?" The creature simply blinked again.

Marco stood, wiping the dust off his clothes as he suddenly heard someone from behind scream his name. He turned just as Star's arms wrapped around him, drawing him into another warm hug. The boy felt his cheeks grow hot with a blush, as Star deepened their hug, feeling the fast beating of her heart against his own. She pulled away, her eyes bright with worry, wet tears tinged on the edge of her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Marco said shyly, trying to will away his blush, as Star's sky blue eyes focused on his face.

"What were you thinking?!" Star screamed, her voice tight with fear.

"I saw that thing falling and I just... reacted," Marco replied with a shrug.

"You should be more careful," Star said, letting out a soothing breath, feeling her heartbeat calm down as she slowly realized Marco was no longer in danger.

"Sorry," Marco said, feeling bad for making Star worry so much. Star shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. The two looked over as the hairy creature from before, now standing, staring at them blankly, making both of them feel uncomfortable.

"We should probably get out of here before the Mewnian guards show up," Star finally said, looking over to the courtyard and the chaos that still consumed it. Marco followed her gaze and went to nod, but he was quickly dragged away by Star, barely having enough time to shout to the hair creature who continued to watch them, "Nice meeting you!"

The creature watched them blankly as a small flame lit up on the right side of its fur.

…

Star and Marco caught up with the others on the outskirts of town, Tom and Pony looking on at the forest stretching before them. "Hey guys!" Star called to them and they turned, smiling to Star and then upon spotting Marco, switching to a glare. The boy shrunk a little under their gaze.

"Where were you, girl?" Pony asked, focusing her attention on Star once again. "We were staring to wonder if you were coming back."

"Oh, umm... well," Star started, feeling a blush on her cheeks, her and Marco not making eye contact with one another.

Tom groaned. "Never mind, just forget it."

"Soooo what now?" Star asked hesitantly, hoping that they would call off the pranks so she could go home.

"Well obviously are pranks are over," Pony said matter-of-factly. Star mentally sighed. "So we'll just have to do something even more funnnn," the unicorn head continued making her voice sound mysterious and Star felt her heart stop again. _Oh no. What now?_

"Like what?" Marco asked curiously and Pony turned to him with a smug look.

"Well, Tom here was telling me all about this rumor that's been going around town," Pony explained, turning to her partner in crime, who happily took over the story.

"Well I hear that there is this cave just on the outskirts of town," Tom said, mysteriously. "And the entrance is sealed with magic so no one knows what's inside."

"But we know how to find out," Pony said, giving Star a knowing look.

Star mentally cringed, but tried to keep her face emotionless. "I don't know guys. It's getting kinda late, don't you think we should head back."

Pony scoffed. "Come on, girl. Don't tell me your scared of a little cave."

"O-Of course not," Star quickly exclaimed, sounding defensive.

"Then you won't mind going, right?" Tom said, a hinting edge to his tone, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

Star sighed, before giving them a forced smile. "Right," she whispered not looking either of them in the eyes.

"So where is the cave?" Marco asked, joining in on the conversation, becoming more and more curious about the mysterious legend.

"In there," Pony simply replied, gesturing with her head to the woods behind her.

Star and Marco both simultaneously looked up to the top of the tall trees that towered over the group, just as a flash of lightening lit up the night sky, followed by a thunderous boom, making the whole forest look dark and foreboding. The two's eyes widened and they gulped as one, Marco taking an uncomfortable step back.

"Um, that doesn't look safe," Marco pointed out, his voice shaking slightly.

"Well it is the Forest of Certain Death," Tom replied, hiding an evil grin.

"That sounds even less safe," Marco added, his voice a squeak.

"Pff, don't worry Mango," Pony said, bumping the boy lightly in the shoulder. "The names super misleading."

"Yeah, it's really only _likely_ you'll die," Tom tauntingly replied. "Not certain."

"Tom!" Star scolded the boy and he shrugged.

"What?" he asked, an innocent smile on his face.

Star's eyes narrowed on the boy as she turned to Marco. "Don't worry, Marco. There just trying to scare you."

"So there is no danger in there," Marco asked Star, fear still shining in his eyes.

"Uhhhhh," Star said, her eyes darting around nervously. "You know what, let's just all go home," Star quickly added, chuckling nervously, already beginning to push the boy away from the area. "I mean who needs to explore some dumb cave anyways? Am I right?"

But Pony flew in front of their path, stopping them in their tracks. "Oh come on, girl. You can't back out now just because of a few monster sightings."

Marco felt his heart drop. "Monster sightings!" he screamed in terror.

Star quickly added. "No, no, Marco. It's okay," she tried to comfort the panicked boy. "No one's seen monsters in there for years. None of them ever wander this close to Butterfly Castle."

But Star's comforting words fell on deaf ears as Marco looked into the dark woods, uncertainty. He could feel a dark tension coming from within, his heart hammering away in his chest. His breathing became shallow and weak, as the woods felt like were closing in around him. He could hear Toffee's voice echoing in his head, words of disapprovement and wrath. He felt as if a million, dark eyes were watching from within, judging him, blaming him for running away. His thoughts quickly began to spiral out of control. He couldn't do this. He had to escape, he needed to get away, he was going to-

"Marco." Somehow, Star voice managed to be heard over Marco's panicked thoughts, her soft tone shattering his spiraling train of thoughts and bringing him back to reality. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, softly saying, "You okay?"

Marco took a deep, shaky breath, trying to relax his frazzled nerves. He nodded, feeling his racing heart slow, as Star's wide, blue eyes focused on his face. "Yeah," he softly whispered. "I just... I don't think I can go with you," Marco's voice shook a little on the last word and Star gave him a sympathetic look.

"And that's okay," Star comforted. "I don't want you to do anything your not comfortable with." Their was an awkward pause as Star looked over to Tom and Pony Head now waited at the entrance to the woods, having moved there when the boy had started his panic attack, Star telling them to give him some space and let her handle this, to which the two had reluctantly replied, not liking the idea of leaving her alone with the newcomer. They stood there (or floated there) just staring at the two teens impatiently a short distance away, waiting for Star to hurry up and comfort the boy, the girl feeling their disapproving stare digging in to her skin, making her feel uncomfortable.

Star took a deep breath, before turning back to the boy. "If you want, I can stay with you," she offered, a light smile on her face. Marco studied the girl for a moment. He knew she was being honest. That if he wished it she would leave the other two behind and dedicate the rest of the night to him. He knew all he had to do was say the word and she would respond and for a moment he was tempted. But he couldn't. He didn't want to be the reason Star abandoned her two oldest friends just so she could look after him because he was too big of a baby to go into some dark woods at night. He just _couldn't_ do it, not to Star, the girl who had given up so much in the name of others happiness. She deserved a little of her own.

And so instead he smiled and said, "No, that's okay. Go. I'll just head back to the castle."

Star seemed surprised by his answer, asking, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm kinda tired anyways," he replied, the smile never leaving his lips.

Star looked at him for a moment longer, her bright eyes focusing on his face and he held back a blush. "Okay," she hesitantly responded. Before quickly adding, "Tomorrow we'll hang out together, all day. Just the two of us."

Marco nodded. "Sounds good."

And with that Star began walking over to her old friends. Tom and Pony Head, seeing the girl leaving her friend behind, shared a smile, knowing they had won. Star was still theirs. And with that, they both quickly entered the dark woods together, trusting that the girl would follow. And she did. But she hesitated just before entering, turning back to the boy, still worried he was upset. He gave her a warm smile, letting her know that all was okay with him and she returned the gesture with a smile of her own. And with that she turned on her heels, entering the dark woods, leaving the boy behind.

 **(cue narrator voice) Will Star and her friends see what's inside the mysterious cave? Will Marco be able to overcome his fear and join the group? Will the writer ever stop making references that nobody but her will catch?! Tune in next time to find out. Same Star place, same Star time. (end narrator voice)**

 **Well that was weird. I need to stop writing these notes so late at night. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! I did! Mostly because of all the references I got to make. So many references. *chuckles evilly for a moment* And yes there was a Gravity Falls reference thrown into the mix. Props to whoever caught it. You all get cookies. But I don't really have any at the moment so, go to the store and buy some then pretend like I gave them to you. :)**

 **Sorry I'm random tonight. I'm just soooo excited for new episodes. No spoilers, though guys. I might take me a few days before I get to see them. So I'm gonna go, but please feel free to leave me a comment. Where do you think this chapter is going? I'd love to hear how my beloved cliffhangers are paying off! Love you all, bye!**

 **Oracle6044- I'm glad your excited! And don't worry all will be reveled in time! Also, yes we all need more Starco fluff in our lives! :)**

 **Deathclaw2010- Welllll, the thing is Star, at the time, did get rid of it for a reason. One you will learn more about in the future. It kinda brought back painful memories and so Jackie didn't want to give it to her until she was sure it would help her rather than hurt. And it just so happened that Marco shows up around the time they were planning on doing it and he seemed like the best person to do the job. It was kinda a coincidence though. Hope that answered your question. :P**

 **SJMT shipper- Aww you two are so adorable! *w* I'm glad to hear your doing better! Sorry for making you cry in your delicate state! Hope this chapter helped heal your broken heart! I did try to put in as much fluff as I could for you two (and myself because Starco is my life) and FG I missed you, too. Good to have you back!**

 **Also, I had no idea you two knew Janna! I mean I thought I was the only one who she keeps stealing my stuff from and hiding it so I can't find it.**

 **Janna: *yelling from other room* I never took your headphones. You lost them.**

 **Oh yeah, likely story. I know you had something to do with it! Anywho, thanks for the review! Always a pleasure, friends!**

 **Guest- Thanks! That means so much to me!**

 **Christopherprime22- Okay first off, yes! That is the new theme of that chapter! It fits so well! And yeah, I kinda went all out for the ending! I know it was a bit emotional. If it makes you feel better I totally teared up too, writing it. Star don't give up on your dreams! You have Marco now! *cries hysterically* Okay, I'm *sniffs* good.**

 **So as for my suggestions I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Especially Drop Pop Candy. There is so much talent in the Stardom and it always gives me pleasure to acknowledge all the artists out there who make it such a rich community to be apart of. And I loved your song! Halo was already perfect for our adorable little teens but Jordan Smith's crystal clear singing voice just made it absolutely _beautiful_! :) Couldn't ask for better version! I can see why he won.**

 **So as for my suggestion, I'll go with a slower tone too. My pick is I Love You Too Much from the animated movie Book of Life. Now I know this one is a classic for Starco, so chances are you have probably heard of it but on the off chance I just can't let this beautiful piece of music go unknown. Everything about it fits Starco, down to the fact that it's Spanish-themed so it fits Marco's culture. I actually heard this song long before I watched the movie and is the whole reason I bought it. And boy am I glad I did. Truth be told this song is what launched me into wanting to write Starco fanfics. I honestly want to use this song somewhere, someday, just not sure where yet.**

 **Finally, thanks once again for sending me a comment! It wasn't disconnected at all and I loved getting to hear from you! And don't worry about taking so long, I get it! Just get to it when you can, don't ever feel pressured. Believe me I know what it's like to have a busy schedule you have to write around! Thanks for being such a great fan and friend! :)**

 **Next update: 2 weeks (narrator voice) Same Star time, same Star place!**

 **Would you get out of here?!**


	8. Tom and Pony Head pt 2

Chapter 7: Tom and Pony Head pt. 2

 **Hey Stardom! I'm back with the long awaited part 2! Thank you all so much for all the favorites, follows, and reviews they just mean sooooo much to me! I really appreciate your support! So I won't keep you long and let you dive right in. Enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the Forces of Evil and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"Star, Star are you in there?" Jackie called from the other side of the princess' door, knocking softly on the firm wood. Once again, the girl got no reply, just an empty silence. From next to her, Janna sighed with annoyance, leaning up against the wall with crossed arms.

"Why are we doing this again?" Janna muttered, pulling her phone from her pocket and swiping the screen to turn the device on.

Jackie turned to her partner, explaining, "Marco wasn't in his room and I thought Star would want to know."

"They're probably still on top of the tower, watching the stars or something," Janna said, her eyes never leaving the bright screen.

"Yeah probably. Wait," Jackie gave her roommate a glare, raising an eyebrow at her. "How do you know they went on the tower today?"

"I saw them," Janna replied, with a shrug.

"You were spying on them!" Jackie yelled. "What about our deal?!"

"Hey, I didn't interfere," Janna defended, raising her hands up in surrender. "I just observed."

"Well it's still wrong," Jackie scolded, whipping her head back to Star's door.

"Oh so you don't want to know what those two were doing up there," Janna said, leaning closer to Jackie with a knowing smirk. " _All alone_."

Jackie looked at her friend's face out of the corner of her eye, her obvious interest shining in her bright green irises, the temptation to ask almost too much to bare. Finally, Jackie turned away from the girl with a scoff, keeping her voice sounding as disinterested as possible. "Ha, why would I care? That's there business not mine," Jackie calmly said, with a roll of her eyes.

Janna shrugged, the smile still on her lips, as she quietly slid her phone back into her pocket. "Well when we get in there you can tell her that yourself," she said, reaching for the knob.

"Wait!" Jackie quickly grabbed her hand just before it touched the cold metal, drawing the girl's attention to her. "You can't just pick the lock of the Princess of Mewni, Jan. You have to have standards."

"Uh I wasn't going to pick the lock," Janna said, pulling her hand away and grabbing the knob once again. Keeping her eyes on the skeptic Jackie, she turned the knob and threw the door open with a flourish, reveling the status of the unlocked door to her friend.

Jackie looked sheepishly at the now opened doorway, simply saying, "Oh," following after her roommate into the dark room. The two girls looked around for any signs of the blond, calling her name often as they searched the room top to bottom. But after a few minutes it became obvious the room was empty and a disheartened Jackie sighed, leaning up against the opened windowsill in defeat. That was when she noticed the thick rope tied tightly to Star's bedframe, the rest hanging out the window blowing freely in the night breeze.

"Uh, Jan," Jackie started, lifting the rope up so she could inspect it closer. "I think you might need to see this."

…

The woods were dark and silent as the trio continued deeper into its heart, Tom and Pony in the lead, walking resolutely forward with no fear of the dangers that could lurk around every corner. Star followed a little slower, her eyes darting around constantly, on edge even with the knowledge that no monsters were in the area. The air felt thick with tension, though she wasn't sure if it was coming from her or the woods themselves.

Finally they seemed to reach their destination, Tom and Pony coming to a stop in front of a large cave. Star caught up with them, examining the cave with interest. It was massive, its rocky walls expanding above the treetops and stretching out into the dark treeline. As Tom had said, the entrance to the cave was blocked by a blood red magical barrier, a giant lock with chains stretching all around the cave covered the entrance, a bit of overkill in Star's opinion.

"Is this it?" Star asked pointlessly, mostly just needing to break the uncomfortable silence that seemed to consume the area.

"Yep, this is the place," Tom proudly responded, either not noticing the tension or (more likely) not caring. "Pretty cool, huh?" He turned to Star with a grin, waiting for a response.

She gave him a weak smile, unable to quite push away the unease she was still feeling. Pony closed in on her, leaning against the girl's arm, saying, "Cooler than anything that Mango ever did, right girl?"

"Come on guys," Star said, sounding defensive. "Marco's not that bad."

"Oh please the wimp couldn't even handle a little danger," Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You know just because your parents make you keep those orphans in the castle doesn't mean you have to hang out with them."

"Uh, so you gonna open the cave, we don't really have all night," Pony interrupted, looking bored.

Star let out an annoyed sigh, resisting putting a hand to her aching head. "Let's just get this over with," Star muttered to herself, lifting her wand up, aiming it at the enormous lock. "Super Ladybug Lockpick!" she yelled, her voice with just a hint of irritation. A burst of magic shot out of her wand, taking the form of a giant, smiling ladybug, holding an equally sized key inbetween its legs. It flew up to the lock, inserting the key which began to glow with magic inside the locking mechanism. The lock and key disappeared, the magic chains falling to the floor before dispersing from existence, the shield following quickly afterward. Star lowered the wand, Tom and Pony looking into the now opened entrance to the cave, only shadows and darkness seeming to be lurking inside. Star kept her eyes on the floor, her thoughts on Marco, unable to stop herself from wishing he was there with her and still feeling guilty for leaving him behind.

But her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a strange chittering noise coming from within the cave. Star felt a chill run up her spine as it grew louder in volume, the noise echoing around the rocky walls of the cave, before projecting into the clearing where the trio stood. Tom and Pony were frozen in shock, Star feeling shaky and unsure of the strange noise, holding her wand tightly in front of her, waiting for an attack. Finally, the sound ceased, silence filling the clearing again, only Star's heavy breathing providing any noise in the quiet area.

"Well that was weird," Tom said. Just then thick blue vine-like things shot out of the cave, wrapping themselves around the boy's arm, making him scream. Star turned to her friend in shock, shooting a blast of magic at the ropes, forcing them to remove themselves from Tom. He panted, holding his arm in shock, staring in at the darkness of the cave with uncertainty.

"You okay?" Star breathlessly asked, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"What the heck was that?!" Pony yelled and in response more vines shot out, heading right for the floating head, before getting shot out of the air by another blast from Star's wand.

"Run!" she screamed, as more vines emerged from the cave heading right for the three teens. But her friends responded to her command, running away from the cave as quickly as possible. Star shot off a few incoming vines with her wand, trying to buy them some time, before turning on her heels and following after her friends. She ran as quickly as she could, her heart pounding away in her chest, not daring to look back at the vines that were probably still closing in on her. She just focused on getting her sore legs to move fast enough to escape the vines, her exhaustion from the long day and night now catching up to her at the worst possible time. She could see Tom and Pony in front of her, running into the forest undergrowth, now free from the unwanted vines and she tried to pick up her pace.

That was when she felt something wrap around her leg, instantly pulling back on her, sending her tumbling to the hard ground. She hit the earth with a loud bang, screaming in pain as her shoulder took the impact of the fall. She looked around her with bleary vision, trying to spot her wand seeing it laying just a few feet in front of her. She gathered her strength, reaching out a hand to grab the magical device but she felt the string go taut as it began dragging her back to the cave by her ankle.

"No, no, no," Star screamed in panic, trying to fight back against the long rope's pull and reach her wand, her hands feebly clawing at the ground. She began gaining ground on the vine, inch by inch coming closer to her wand. Finally, she was able to grab the wand, releasing a shaky sigh as she held it tightly in her hand. She aimed it at the vine wrapped around her leg, trying to come up with a spell in this panic-filled moment.

"Super Laser- Ahhhh!" Star screamed as another thick vine wrapped itself around her hand coating the wand completely, rendering it useless. Star tried to fight back against the remarkably soft vines, pulling and tugging, trying desperately to get her hand free, but she was unsuccessful as it dragged her across the ground, bringing her closer and closer to the darkness of the cave. She heard the chittering noise again echoing around the walls of the cave as she drew closer and she turned hoping to see Tom or Pony running toward her, ready to free her from her predicament. But she was alone and no one was coming to save her. "Tom! Pony!" Star screamed, calling to them, trying desperately to reach them. Star felt tears of defeat in her eyes as the vines dragged her to the very entrance of the cave. "Marco!" she screamed as loudly as she could.

And then she was dragged, still screaming, into the depths of the dark cave, disappearing from sight.

...

Marco sat alone at a table, feeling miserable, looking at the pretty plant set neatly in its small décor vase with solace. What was he even doing there, really? He should stop mopping and go back to the castle like he told Star he would. There was nothing really to do here, not without Star. But something was keeping him there, making him want to stay, though he wasn't sure what. The boy sighed in misery, placing his forehead against the cold tabletop.

Marco saw a shadow darken over his face and he looked up to see the hairy creature from before standing over him, giving him a blank, empty stare. The hooded boy opened his mouth to speak but the creature suddenly flipped its hair up, revealing the teenage girl beneath. She smiled at him giving a tiny wave. "Hey again," she said cheerfully.

"Oh hi," Marco softly replied, upon recognizing the girl. "Your the girl from before, right?"

"Yep," she replied with a small, courteous nod. "Name's Kelly."

"Marco," the hooded boy said. Then, suddenly remembering the casual greeting he was supposed to give, he thrust his hand out in the girl's face, making her lean back awkwardly. But she took his hand, shaking it softly.

The two stood shaking hands for a moment, Marco leaning uncomfortably on the table, as an awkward silence stretched out. "You can let go of my hand now," Kelly finally said.

"Oh sorry," Marco quickly apologized, pulling his hand away and sitting back down.

"So is this seat taken," the girl asked, gesturing to the chair next to Marco's.

"Uh no, go ahead," Marco said, a smile on his face and the girl pulled out the chair taking a seat.

"So are you from around here?" Marco asked, trying to make awkward small talk with the complete stranger sitting at his table.

"Actually I work here," Kelly explained.

"What? Where?" Marco asked, looking around.

"There." Marco followed the girl's pointing finger to the restaurant set up beside them, the boy just now realizing that he had sat down at one of the restaurant's outdoor dining areas.

"Oh," Marco said softly, feeling slightly embarrassed for the mistake.

"When I saw you sitting over here all alone, I wanted to come over and thank you for what you did," Kelly explained.

"It was no big deal," Marco shyly responded, shrinking a little into his hoodie.

"No it _was_ a big deal. If it weren't for you, me and Tad would be dead."

"Tad?" Marco repeated in confusion. "Who's Tad?"

Suddenly, the top of Kelly's hair seemed to come to life, eyes and a mouth appearing out of nowhere, staring down at the boy with a relaxed smile. "Hey dude," her hair said.

There was a moment of silence as Marco just stared at the hair with wide eyes. But his smile quickly returned, as he gave the talking hair an enthusiastic wave. "Hi Tad!" he shouted, greeting him in a friendly manner.

"I really appreciate what you did for me, brah," Tad continued. "If it weren't for you, Kells could have been hurt. And I don't know what I would have done without her."

"Awwww, Tad," Kelly cooed, putting a hand to her blushing cheeks.

"It's true babe. I mean you are my whole world."

"Your just saying that because your stuck up there on my head."

"Well yeah. But what hair would want any different when it's already got the best."

Marco watched the two's flirting for a minute, smiling. But out of nowhere, his thoughts jumped to Star and he felt a lump wedge itself into the back of his throat. Instinctively, he turned in the direction of the forest, feeling a crushing weight begin to weigh heavily on his body as he thought of the girl. He knew he shouldn't, but he was worried about Star, hating the idea of her being out there in the middle of the woods, even if she was with her old friends. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, that all was not right with the princess. He knew he was probably being paranoid, he was clearly afraid of the woods, but still...

"Marco?"

Marco jumped turning to Kelly in a daze. "What?" Marco's voice squeaked, still strained from the lump. "Sorry I was..."

"Thinking about that girl from before," Kelly guessed and she was rewarded by Marco's blushing cheeks.

"Yeah, maybe a little," he shyly responded, not looking the girl in the eyes.

"Did she ditch you?" Tad asked.

"Huh, ditch?" Marco asked, giving the talking hair a strange look. "What's that?"

"She abandoned you to go do something else," Kelly helpfully supplied.

"Oh," Marco said, nodding in understanding. "Yes... and no, I guess. I told her to go on without me, because I was in the way but now..." Marco's eyes began to glaze over with pain.

"Bad move, dude."

Marco gave Tad another confused look. "What? Why?"

"Trust me. You don't leave your girl's side, no matter what."

"But what if me being with her makes things worse?" Marco asked. "And what if what she's doing you don't like?"

"Then you have to decide," Kelly pitched in. "Which is better for both of you. Tad and I don't get along on everything, but we try to stick together. Sometimes it's important to know when you stay together and when you give each other space. But it has to be the decision that makes both of you happy."

Marco looked down at the table, deep in thought. Did he make the right call? Letting Star go had seemed like the right choice at the time, but he wasn't feeling good about it at all? So did that mean he made a mistake? Should he have gone too? Should he have told her to stay? Marco sighed, rubbing his sore eyes tiredly. "Your right I should have gone with her to that cave," he moaned.

"Wait, cave," Kelly suddenly blurted. "What cave?"

Marco heard the concern in her voice and removed his hands from his face, looking into the girl's obviously unsettled eyes. "The one that's sealed off with magic," Marco hesitantly said, feeling his heart rate begin to spike.

"The one in the Forest of Certain Death?" Kelly questioned, her voice quivering slightly.

"Yes."

"Oh, Marco," Kelly's face scrunched up, filling Marco with unease. "That cave is dangerous!" she continued, not daring to look the boy in the eyes. "They say there's a creature sealed inside, locked by an ancient magic. Though I doubt your friend would be capable of getting in or anything, I mean it would take a heck of a lot of magic to open that cave and only an idiot would be dumb enough to even try it."

Kelly looked up shooting the boy a comforting smile, only to switch to shock as she looked at the empty table in front of her, the chair the boy had been sitting in pushed out away from the table, it's occupant already running toward the certain doom that awaited him.

...

Tom and Pony ran as far and fast as they could, putting as much distance between themselves and the cave as possible. Until finally they freed themselves from the entrapping woods, arriving in town once again. The two came to a stop, Tom panting heavily from the exhausting run. The two took a moment to catch their breath, before breaking into laughter, relieved that they had escaped unharmed.

"Man that was crazy," Tom chocked out, inbetween panting and fits of laughter.

"Crazy, that was insane," Pony corrected. "Bet you wouldn't have seen that in your castle, huh B-Fly?" Pony turned, expecting to see Star behind her. But she wasn't. There was no sign of the girl anywhere around the two. "B-Fly?" Pony repeated, feeling slightly concerned.

"Star?" Tom called out as well.

The two's eyes were drawn to the dark woods once again, as Tom quietly whispered, "Oh no."

...

Marco ran up to the dark woods, already panting heavily. He brought himself to a stop just before he entered the thick foliage, looking into the dark woods uncertainty. He was scared, there was no doubt about that, but if Star really was going to the cave Kelly said she was then she might be in danger. And if something happened to her Marco didn't know what he'd do. He had to help her, he just had to.

And so despite the overwhelming fear that coursed through his body, he stepped into the woods, brushing the loose branches and bushes out of his way as he entered the dimly lit forest. Marco froze, looking around at the towering trees in terror, feeling like the woods themselves were closing in around him. He began to hyperventilate, the forest growing smaller and smaller around the boy, the edges of his vision going black as he began to lose consciousness. He tried to calm himself, to force his feet to keep moving, but they were planted in place.

"I'm sorry," Marco whispered to the forest around him. "I'm so sorry. Toffee told me not to leave, he said it'd hurt you, but I did, Buff Frog... Buff Frog made me and now you all probably hate me." He felt tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. "Now I can't see any of you ever again and I don't... even know why. And now..." Marco sniffed wiping the tears out of his eyes, as his breathing began to calm, the suns of his cheeks glowing faintly as he took a deep, shaky breath, determination anew in his eyes. "Star. She needs me. I can't lose her like I did my family. I have to help her."

And with that Marco, ignoring the overwhelming fear that still consumed his body, took off at a run, pushing deeper and deeper into the forest, hoping he would come across the cave. He had no idea how long he ran through the dark woods, every second feeling like an eternity as his worry for Star's safety grew, but eventually he came into a clearing were a large cave-like structure towered over him. He paused for a minute taking in the unsettling cave, his stomach doing an uncomfortable flip, before racing in to the cave without a second thought.

Once inside, he gave a quick survey of the room, startled by how warm and inviting the inside felt compared to the cold, dark exterior. The inside of the cave felt more like a proper living area, though on a giant scale. There was a sofa and coffee table, even a fireplace, though Marco did take note that almost everything in the room seemed to be made of a yarn-like substance expertly weaved together to create furniture. On top of that, there were large piles of socks everywhere in the enormous room, scattered all over the floor, making for a make-shift carpet. There were no lamps so it was rather dark in the giant's living room, the only source of light and warmth coming from the lit fireplace, but Marco's eyes adjusted quickly, finding the room still brighter than the woods outside.

He took a few steps forward, trying to spot Star or the others, making sure to stay close to the exit in case something unexpected came running in. He called Star's name gently, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. Finally, he looked up to the fireplace once again, noticing the stockings hanging over it, curious as to why these were being treated differently than the rest of its matching companions. That was when he spotted Star, poking out of one of the socks, her eyes closed. Marco felt panic and relief in a strange mixture as he resisted the urge to scream the girl's name. He ran over to the fireplace, no longer caring about the exit, as he quickly found a path up its side, using the uneven stone as footholes as he scaled the rocky hearth. Once he reached the top he ran over to the unconscious girl. He bent down to the girl's level tapping her lightly on the shoulder.

"Star." he hissed, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. "Star, wake up." The girl moaned, shifting in her sleep as she slowly peeked open an eye, looking at the boy with uncertainty.

"Marco?" she whispered, the exhaustion in her voice unmistakable. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the partially lit room. "W-Where are we?" She tried to turn so she could take surveillance of the room, but found her arms restricted. She gasped as she noticed everything below her shoulders was trapped within the scratchy sock. She tried to pull herself free, tugging against the relentless sock, but found herself unable to move. "I'm stuck," she whispered in worry. "I-I can't move."

She felt hands wrap around her shoulders, pulling against the entrapping weight of the sock and she looked behind her to see Marco, straining as he tried to pull the girl to freedom, his brown eyes filled with a raw determination. Star felt her cheeks blush, for just a moment forgetting to move, before she snapped herself back to reality, moving with hooded boy as one.

Finally, it became obvious to Star that there would be no escaping the sock, letting out a deep sigh. "It's no use," she whispered, slightly out of breath. "You should go before that _thing_ comes back and gets you too." She looked to Marco with fearful eyes, but he didn't even budge, the determination never leaving his face as he shook his head.

"No way. I'm not leaving you here. There's got to be another way." He thought for a moment, putting a finger to his chin, Star just watching him in silence. "Hmmmm. Wait. Where are Tom and Pony Head? Maybe if I free them first, we can all work together to get you out."

Star eyes filled with sadness as she shook her head. "That won't work. Tom and Pony Head already escaped, I was the only one who got captured." She gave Marco another pleading look. "So please just go, Marco. There's no reason for both of us to get taken."

But Marco just ignored her, his brain tumbling as he tried to think of another plan to free Star. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head as he quickly asked the girl, "Where's your wand? Is it in the sock, too?"

Star's face seemed to brighten as she remembered her magical device. "Of course. Marco that's genius." But her face fell as realization hit her. "Oh no, I don't have it."

"What? Then where is it?" Marco asked, looking around the fireplace for any sign of it.

"I dropped it," Star said, shaking slightly.

"Where?"

"Down there." Star gestured with her head to the pile of socks in the middle of the room, looking like a sea of bright blue below. Marco followed her gaze, squinting as he tried to spot the wand. He took a deep breath, turning to Star. "Stay here," he said. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, Marco!" Star called after him in a loud whisper, but the boy was already climbing down the fireplace, his eyes jumping to the pile of socks that waited below.

Once he was on the ground he quickly went over there, digging around through the soft and scratchy socks for any sign of Star's wand. His hands were buried deep inside the pile, blindly grabbing around for anything that wasn't made of cotton or wool. "Come on, come on," he whispered, feeling pressured to rush it. Finally, his hands bumped up against something hard and Marco smiled in victory.

That was when he heard a chittering sound above him, looking up to see the creature of the cave. It was huge, towering over the room, its massive size suddenly making sense in Marco's mind. The thing was dark blue and made 100% out of thick yarn. It stared at him in shock for a second, Marco still bent over in the pile of socks staring blankly back. Then the creature released a massive roar, which seemed to shake the walls of the furbished cave. Marco screamed, pulling his hands out from the socks, now holding the wand.

"Marco run!" Star screamed from her stocking, still tugging against the scratchy fabric, trying to break free. Marco immediately obeyed, taking off from the creature as it shoot out webs made of yarn at the boy. The boy managed to see them coming out of the corner of his eye and dodged right, the yarn webs wrapping around the legs of the table, becoming stuck. The creature pulled against the table but its arm didn't budge and it released a sigh of annoyance.

While the creature was busy freeing itself Marco ran over to the fireplace, slipping the wand in his hood pocket, before scaling the structure once again. He made his way up quickly, keeping a weary eye on the creature which was still struggling to free itself. Once on top, Marco ran over to the trapped Star, his goal in sight.

But he was stopped as thick yarn webs wrapped around his body, pulling him off the fireplace and sending him falling to the ground. "Marco!" Star screamed, finally managing to pull a hand free from the sock. Marco screamed as he fell to the floor, putting his hands feebly in front of his face in hopes of providing protection. But it was for nothing as he crash landed into the pile of socks from before, breaking his fall and preventing any serious injury. Marco sat up from the sock pile to see the creature a short distance away and quickly closing the distance as it stalked closer.

Marco jumped to his feet running away from the creature once again, trying to make it to some form of safety in the room. More yarn webs shot out at him and he dove to the floor to avoid getting hit, the webs passing over his head uselessly.

He got up once again, running behind the couch, for a moment free from the creature's vision. He panted a few times, trying to catch his breath after the exhausting incident, peeking around the side, looking for any signs of the creature and was surprised to see nothing. Marco pulled back, leaning against the couch deep in thought, when a large shadow passed over his face. He looked up to see the yarn creature, leaning over the back of the couch, glaring at him. "You know that's really bad for your couch," Marco said.

The creature growled releasing more webs at the boy, who dropped down on all fours and crawled underneath the couch, barely avoiding getting hit. The boy crawled forward, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, trying to keep his breathing and racing heart calm as he pushed forward, trying not to think of the creature that might be waiting for him at the other end. He crawled out the other side, slowly sneaking away, the creature still looking over the back of the couch for any signs of the boy who seemed to just disappear.

Marco crept slowly forward, trying to make the least amount of sound as possible. But the creature, still confused, turned and saw the boy creeping away. Its eyes narrowed as it shot out more yarn webs, the boy too busy trying not to make noise that he didn't even notice. "Look out!" Marco felt something heavy bump into him sending him tumbling to the floor, the yarn webs passing harmlessly beside him.

Marco blinked, wondering how he had ended up on the floor, feeling a heavy, warm weight pressed up against him. He looked down to see Star laying on top of him and he felt his cheeks turn hot as her bright blue irises focused on his face, looking concerned. Marco opened his mouth to speak, but words failed him as Star moved a little closer to him, their faces becoming close to touching, her long blond hair tickling his face as she leaned over him, her eyes scanning his face for any injuries. "You okay?"

But before Marco could attempt to answer, another roar echoed throughout the cave and Star looked over to the see the creature, quickly losing patience, stalking toward them. Star grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him to his feet and dragging him behind her, as she ran for the exit.

But just as the two made it out the cave's mouth, a yarn web latched onto Marco's back, pulling him back into the depths of the cave. Marco screamed as Star tried to pull the boy out of the fabric's grip, but the two were being slowly dragged in inch by inch. The princess grunted as she dug her heels into the ground, tightening her grip on the boy's arm as much as she could without hurting him. "Don't worry Marco, I'm not letting go!" Star screamed.

But she began losing hope as the darkness slowly closed in around them, more webs wrapping around them beginning to encase their bodies in the scratchy fabric. Marco seemed to be realizing the hopelessness of their situation as well as he looked deep into Star's eyes, the two trying to enjoy what might be their last moment together.

"Hang on B-Fly!" a voice screamed from behind them and the two turned to see Tom and Pony Head racing toward the two.

"Pony!" the two screamed as one.

"Hey what about me!?" Tom yelled, fuming with anger, the flames on his cheeks igniting as he came to an abrupt stop.

"Not now T!" Pony yelled. "We gotta save B-Fly and Mango!"

"It's Marco!" Marco screamed.

"Yeah no one still cares. Charge!" With that Pony stabbed her horn deep into the yarn web, ripping some of it apart. Meanwhile, Tom snapped his fingers the rest of the webs bursting into flames and disintegrating. With the webs suddenly severed, Star and Marco felt gravity take hold of them once again as they were sent tumbling to the floor.

More webs continued to spring out of the cave, Tom and Pony laying waste to them, as they protected the two Mewmans who were still trying to recover from the terrifying ordeal. The two lay on the floor, hand in hand, panting, watching Tom and Pony in shocked silence. The two held their own against the never ending webs that seemed to shoot out of the cave's mouth, but it was obvious they couldn't hold out forever.

Until suddenly Star, logic returning to her frazzled brain, turned to Marco shouting, "Marco, quick my wand!"

"Oh right," Marco said, pulling the wand out of his hood pocket and handing it to Star. Once the wand was back in her hands, she took a deep breath, letting the magic gather.

"Hyper Rainbow Shield!" she screamed, as magic shot out of her wand encasing the entire entrance of the cave, a purple shield immediately beginning to form. Tom and Pony relaxed as the webs finally stopped coming, bouncing off the shield harmlessly.

The four friends all took a moment to catch their breath, as the dangerous situation was finally resolved. Star helped Marco to his feet. "You okay?" she asked, still panting.

"Yeah," Marco grunted, rubbing his head softly. "Thanks."

"I should be thanking you," Star said. "But how'd you know I was in trouble?"

"Someone in town told me that cave was super dangerous, so I came to make sure you were okay," Marco explained.

"Well we had your back too, B-Fly," Pony cut in. "There was no way we were letting our friend get turned into a sock mummy," Pony said.

"Thanks," Star said, giving them a grateful smile.

"So what should we do now, girl?" Pony asked. "There's still a massive rave happening in the Bounce Lounge if we hurry we can-"

"Actually," Star interrupted. "I'm gonna take Marco back."

"Ah come on, he's fine," Pony said, with a roll of her eyes. "You don't have to babysit him just because he almost died."

"Yeah why don't you send him home so you can hang out with your real friends," Tom blurted out, before his eyes widened, realizing his mistake.

There was an awkward moment of silence as Star stared at her two friends in disbelief, realization finally entering the girl's brain. Her eyes narrowed on them and Tom and Pony both backed up a bit from the girl. But Star took a deep breath, before turning back to Marco, who just stood there awkwardly unsure what to do, shooting him a smile. "Marco why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up."

"O-Okay," Marco said, before walking past the three giving them all concerned looks, heading in the direction of town.

Once he was out of sight, Star turned to her two old friends once again. "I'll right first off, Marco is my friend, one I choose to hang out with, not forced to," she began, her voice hard. "Secondly, I'm tired. I've been tired all night and you two never even took the time to notice it. And I can see that the only way this night is going to end is if I say something. So I am."

"But-" Tom began.

"But what Tom," Star cut him off, shooting him a glare.

"You never would have called it a night before," Pony said.

"Well I'm not the person I was before, Pony," Star huffed. "I'm not some crazy party girl who can go out and do whatever I want. I have duties and responsibilities and people who look up to me. And I don't care if that makes me sound like a rubber stamp princess, because it's true."

"Okay well, we were only trying to help," Pony muttered.

"No you weren't," Star exclaimed, her anger boiling. "You used me, _all night long_ , to do all those stupid, dumb pranks. You never cared about spending time with me, you just wanted my wand so you could break the rules and rebel."

"Hey don't pin this on us," Tom defended. "You're the one who asked us to help you become the princess you were before."

"Yes I did," Star said with a sigh, her eyes for a moment looking to the ground, before jumping back up to them. "But I was wrong. I'm not the princess I was before... but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the person I am now is better. And maybe I shouldn't be trying to change that."

"So what you'd rather hang out with that turd than your besties," Pony said.

"It all comes down to two options Star," Tom added. "Us or him."

Star looked down for a moment, thinking. Finally she looked back up at them with a hard look. "Fine." And with that she turned on her heels and began walking in the direction Marco had gone.

"Star!" Tom called, but she didn't respond, simply walking off, leaving her two oldest friends behind. The two turned to each looking shocked and confused.

"Nice going," Pony hissed at her friend, who looked at the ground sadly.

"She really chose him over us," he whispered in depression.

"Why did you even ask her to?" Pony scoffed. " Let's just give her a few days to cool of. She'll come around eventually."

…

"Your sure they went in there?" Jackie asked looking at the dark woods, uncertainly.

"Oh yeah," Kelly confidently replied. "He seemed pretty upset when I told him about the cave."

"Marco in the Forest of Certain Death," Janna pitched in. "No way. Gotta be someone else."

"How many other boys in bright red hoods with sun cheek marks do you know?" Kelly pointed out.

"Touche."

"I hope they're okay in there," Jackie said, her voice quivering slightly as she looked into the danger-ridden woods with concern.

"Well if there are about four different caves located just outside of town in the Forest of Certain Death and only three of them have dangerous creatures trapped inside," Janna stated matter-of-factly. "So we have about a one in four chance of them not getting eaten."

"I don't even want to ask how you know that," Jackie said, putting a palm to her forehead.

"What's in the other one?" Kelly asked the creepy girl curiously.

"Diamonds," she answered with a shrug. "Oh and gold."

"Oh, cool we should totally go there Tad for date night," Kelly said, looking up at her hair.

"Sounds good to me, babe," Tad replied. "I'll go with you, anywhere."

"I wouldn't if I were you, it's all kinda cursed," Janna said.

"Awww, why is there always a catch when exploring unknown caves in dark woods?" Kelly huffed in frustration. "Come on Tad, let's go home." The two girl's watched their informant sulk off, looking upset, until a voice yelled behind them.

"Hey guys!" Jackie and Janna turned as one, looking to the wood's entrance where Marco stood waving over to them.

"Marco!" they both shouted, quickly running over to join him.

"Where have you been?" Jackie asked in concern.

"With Star," Marco replied innocently.

"Where is Star?" Janna asked, looking around for any signs of the girl.

"She was talking to Tom and Pony Head."

"Those two?!" Jackie exclaimed, sounding disgusted. "They were behind this."

"Yeah," Marco said, a little put-off by Jackie's bizarre behavior. "They've been hanging out with me and Star all night."

"Well now the devastation makes sense," Janna muttered under her breath, a small smile on her face. "That had Tom's handwriting all over it."

"Don't sound so impressed," Jackie said, shooting Janna a look.

"Actually, that was me," a hesitant voice called from the woods and they all turned to Star, looking downcast.

"Star!" the two girls screamed, Jackie pulling her into a hug.

"Where are Tom and Pony Head?" Marco asked, looking around for them.

Star's eyes went dark for a moment. "I have no idea," she spat. Marco felt guilt clench his gut at Star's reaction, suddenly afraid he had upset her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"For what?" Star asked in confusion.

"For ruining your night," Marco said, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"Marco," Star said softly, taking his hands gently into her own. Marco looked up into her eyes with shock. "You didn't ruin my night."

"But what about Tom and Pony Head? Didn't you want to spend time with them?"

Star giggled a little. "Actually I'd much rather spend time with you" She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "My best friend."

"Your best... friend," Marco repeated, his cheeks blushing slightly.

"Yep," Star replied matter-of-factly. "Bestie for short."

"Bestie," Marco tried out the word, letting it sink into his brain. "I like it," he said, giving Star another cute smile that just made her heart flutter.

"I'm glad," she said, giving him a warm smile.

Jackie and Janna stared at the two in silence, giving each other knowing looks. Janna cleared her throat, capturing the two's attention once again. "Well you two besties might want to consider cleaning up the mess you and the others made out of town," she said. "The people are still in revolt over that possum statue getting broken."

"Oh yeah," Star said sheepishly, looking at Marco. "Guess I should try to get everything fixed before morning. So much for sleep."

"Don't worry Star, your bestie will be there beside you all night to help," Marco said dramatically, putting a hand to his chest.

Star laughed. "Why thank you, bestie," she said, equally as dramatic, curtsying.

The two shared a laugh for a moment before turning back to town, the two besties flashing each other a smile before heading off to spend the rest of the night together as friends.

 **Bestie status achieved! Pony Head was right Star did realize who her _real_ bestie was. *Wink, wink* ;) And don't worry that won't be the final appearance of either Tom or Pony, I'm not done with them just yet. They are great characters who I want to do more with. And probably more Kelly and Tad too, because they are _soooo_ adorable. **

**So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the new episodes of Star! I haven't gotten to see all of them just yet but I am loving every minute of them! And it is definitely getting my writing brain going! And thank you all once again for not spoiling anything, I will try to do the same. *cough, cough* …what? I had to cough. What did you think I was coughing because I was going to put in a spoiler?! I have allergies okay!**

 **So I do have to go but I just want to thank you all once again for being the best fans possible! Please feel free to favorite, follow, or review, or just enjoy reading this little old story of mine, I love you all regardless. I will help tide us over until new episodes. Star may be over for a while, but this writer is only getting started! Woot, woot. *throws confetti into the air***

 **Guest- I know right. That's exactly what I was going for. I actually do really like these two but I do feel like they would try to change Star and pressure her into doing something if it meant her becoming the princess they were friends with before, not understanding that her change was for the better.**

 **SJMT shipper- Aww, you are so welcome! I couldn't resist putting in as much Starco as possible and I'm so glad to know it helped cure you! Starco changes lives! I made a difference!**

 **But seriously, both you and FG are super awesome and I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter, just consider it my get well gift! Also you caught the reference! Yay! Eat as many cookies as you like on me! I do _love_ Gravity Falls and I consider it, Star, and Steven Universe to be the best things on TV right now. You really can't have one without the others. So when I thought of the reference I couldn't not put it in there. Maybe I'll throw in a Steven Universe reference somewhere... who knows?**

 **I actually did kinda wonder if that's what your name meant, glad to know I'm right. And don't worry cannon or not Jantom is cute! I may or may not ship them myself. *cough, cough* I do. And I may or may not have the idea of putting Jantom in the story somewhere *cough, cough* I totally do.**

 **Janna: Wait what was that?**

 **Nothing Janna I'm not talking about pairing you up with Tom because you two would be completely perfect for each other in every way possible. I just have allergies.**

 **Janna: *pauses for a moment* *shrugs* Eh, whatever.**

 ***Phew* So once again so glad you enjoyed friend and thanks so much for the compliment, I will continue to do my best! *W***

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	9. Bonding With a Butterfly

Chapter 8: Bonding with a Butterfly

 **Hello Stardom! I'm back once more! I am so sorry this one is out a _week late_. I ended up accidentally taking Thanksgiving week off to spend time with family and didn't even have my laptop through most of the holiday, so I couldn't work. I tried to catch up last week but I just needed the extra time to get it done. So sorry once again. I've learned my lesson, holidays not a good time for writing. At least for me. **

**Anywho, it may be late but it will be worth the wait, I hope. So hope you all enjoy this one... I think you will! And thanks so much for all your support and patience, even through my lateness.**

 **Also, Warning: This chapter contains intense amounts of Starco fluff. Shippers beware. ;)**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. the Forces of Evil is owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The two set of footsteps echoed loudly off the dark castle hallways, as the two made their way to their destination, even the lack of light doing nothing to stop the two from their mission. It was very early morning, the sun not even beginning to rise over the sleepy town, but already the morning felt full to the two Mewnian guards.

Jak and Dex both walked side by side as they made their way to their princess' room. "So you think the princess is alright?" Jak asked, turning to his companion with concern.

"I'm sure she's fine," Dex replied, nonchalantly. "This is just routine, that's all. Check on her and make sure she's safe. If you ask me, General Skullsy is just overreacting."

"Well yeah," Jak commented. "But then again, so was everyone tonight."

"Right," Dex said, rolling his eyes.

The two finally made it to the princess' door but were surprised to find it partially cracked open and the two felt panic rise up in them at once. Without even bothering to knock they threw the door open, concern for their princess bigger than their training. "Princess?!" Dex called, as he opened the door all the way to reveal Star and her friends, who turned to look at them, all except Marco who was asleep on the girl's couch.

The two stood frozen in their future ruler's doorway, staring in at the confused faces of the room's occupants. "P-Princess?" Jak stuttered in shock.

"Yes?" Star responded, sounding confused why the two guards had barged into her room.

"Are you okay?" Dex asked, looking around.

"Of course," Star said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well your door was open and..." Jak started, before coming to a stop looking around at the baffled faces that stared back at him. "What are you doing up this early anyways?"

Star looked around at her two friends, searching for the right answer, but neither seemed to know what to say. "Ummm..." Star began, biting her lip. "Well Marco had a nightmare so we brought him in here to make sure he was okay."

Everyone immediately turned to the slumbering boy, his face peaceful as he curled up into the warmth of the blanket that was tucked securely around him, unaware of the world turning in the calm of his dreams. Star smiled softly at how cute Marco looked when he was asleep, before turning back to the guards. "Why, was there a problem?" she asked, making her voice sound curious and confused, cocking her head to the side.

The two seemed to recover, standing at attention, as their princess addressed them. "No of course not, Your Highness," Dex said, trying to sound calm. "We were just asked to check on you to make sure that you were alright."

"Not that we thought you wouldn't be," Jak quickly added, hoping to keep the princess from panicking.

"There was kinda some commotion in town," Dex continued. "Everyone's been a little on edge."

"Commotion?" Janna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the people in town were claiming all kind of crazy things," Dex said, rolling his eyes. "Flying statues, giant spiders, talking golf balls..."

"Wow, sounds like the whole town went nuts overnight," Jackie said, looking to her friends.

"That's what I said!" Jak suddenly shouted.

"Well no problems here," Star pitched in, her voice light and cheery. "But if we see any giant spiders or screaming hammers we'll let you know."

"We never said anything about the screaming hammer," Dex pointed out, sounding suspicious.

Jackie and Janna were up and out of there seats in seconds, pushing the two guards out of the room. "Uh, thanks for checking on the princess but we've got it from here," Jackie nervously said.

"Yeah, we got it handled boys," Janna confidently replied.

"All right," Dex began as the two girl's finished pushing them out. "But if you need anything, Your High-" But his voice was cut off as the door slammed shut in their faces, all three girls sighing with relief.

"That was close," Janna pointed out, leaning against the doorframe.

"Sorry my bad," Star sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

Jackie walked over to the bed, sitting down next to her friend again. "That's okay Star. Lying was never one of your strong suits. Even back when you did hang out with Tom and Pony." Jackie rolled her eyes as she mentioned the two.

Star huffed. "I can't believe I ever did," she admitted, crossing her arms. "Those two are nothing but trouble."

"Yeah but you were the one who did all the damage," Janna pointed out.

Star's cheeks blushed, as she threw her hands up in anger. "Only because they made me!" she screamed, instantly putting a hand to her mouth, her eyes jumping to Marco, who rolled over before settling back into his dream. "Trust me if you were there you'd understand," she continued much quieter.

"If I were there I think we all know I would have made it worse," Janna stated matter-of-factly and both Star and Jackie nodded their heads.

"True," Jackie said, leaning back a little on the bed. "Thank goodness you _don't_ hang out with them. I think all of Mewni would suffer."

"Well we'd definitely help liven the place up," Janna said, gazing longingly into the distance, dreaming sweet thoughts of destruction.

Star sighed, laying down on her bed. "I'm just glad we managed to get that mess cleaned up," she tiredly replied, before releasing a massive yawn.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Janna pointed out. "You and Marco did most of the work. Me and Jacks just did crowd control."

Star smiled at the mention of the boy, looking over to his slumbering form. True to his word, Marco had, in fact, stayed at Star's side all night, helping however he could as she reversed all her spells. And Star was glad to have the company, finding the tasks tedious and tiring, her already tired body ready to collapse as she undid her unwanted work. But as the hours stretched on, Marco had grown sleepier and sleepier, and, though he never complained once, Star could tell he was struggling to stay awake.

Finally, they were finished, Marco having to lean against the girl just to keep from falling over as they made their way back to the castle. The boy kept rubbing his eyes tiredly, looking cute and adorable as he struggled to keep his promise to his newly christened bestie. Star kept a firm arm wrapped around him, practically carrying him back, as they snuck past the guards and panicked citizens that seemed to swarm the town, none aware that the danger was gone.

And now here they were back in Star's room, the boy asleep practically as soon as his head hit the comfy sofa cushions, worn out from the long night's events. "Yeah," she breathed, her face softening.

"Want us to help you carry him to his room?" Jackie offered, both her and Janna pretty sure what the answer would be.

Star thought for a second before shaking her head. "No, that's okay. He's fine where he is."

The two smiled at her reply, pleased their hunches were correct. "Suit yourself," Jackie began, releasing a fake yawn to try and hide her smirk from Star, stretching her arms over her head. "Me and Jan are gonna head for bed."

"Good idea," Star tiredly acknowledged, nodding in agreement, her whole body feeling heavier as she realized how truly tired she was. Jackie stood and her and Janna went to exit the room, the creepy girl turning to Star for a moment.

"Yeah you better get some sleep," Janna yawned. "Got another long day of 'princess duties' to fulfill."

Star froze, her friend's words hitting her full force as she realized how true she was. But neither Jackie or Janna noticed as they left, the door closing shut behind them as they trudged for bed, arguing about who was closer to winning the bet. Star's thoughts began spinning around her tired head as her words from earlier that night came back to her. "My promise," she whispered, looking over to the slumbering Marco, guilt suddenly seizing her stomach, twisting it into an uncomfortable knot.

She released a shaky sigh, leaning against her bed post, putting a hand to her aching head. "Oh no," she breathed, shutting her eyes tight. "How am I ever gonna be able to spend _all day_ with Marco?" She mentally beat herself up for being so careless, she should have known better than to make a promise she couldn't keep. At the time she had been trying so desperately to keep Marco happy but really she had only made things worse.

She couldn't tell Marco no, she just couldn't, not after what had happened. If it wasn't for him Star would still be in that's _things_ clutches. Marco had saved her, had risked his life for her, and she couldn't bring herself to disappoint him. He meant so much to her.

Star blushed at the last thought, but ignored her burning cheeks, trying to think of a way to get out of her appointed responsibilities and be able to spend time with her Marco. Erh, her bestie. But her tired brain was drawing a blank and she released a long sigh, slowly sinking deeper into herself. "Ugh, what am I going to do?" she asked her ceiling, hoping for some kind of answer from above. But none came and she stood up walking hesitantly over to Marco.

She hovered over him, looking down at his cute little face, smiling softly in his ignorant bliss. Instinctively she reached down and pulled the covers up a little more, tucking them around his snoozing form. She watched him for a moment, memorizing every feature of his sleeping face, unable to believe that this helpless little boy had been the brave, heroic one from before. She recalled the look of determination he had had as he valiantly faced the monster's cave, unafraid of the dangers that lurked inside.

He had been so brave before and she felt a deep gratitude toward him for all he had done. Even after she had blown him off so harshly. Star bent down so she was more level with the boy as she gently ran a hand through the back of Marco's soft brown hair, admiring his sleeping form. "Star," he groggily whispered in his sleep and Star felt her heart flutter. She pulled her hand slowly away, studying him carefully, concerned she had disturbed the boy's sleep.

But the boy never opened his eyes, merely releasing a cute yawn before turning over once again, now facing Star his breath tickling her face. Star smiled lovingly at the boy, feeling the urge once again to give him a tiny peck on the cheek. But she resisted. She didn't want to startle him. He needed his rest.

So instead she stood, walking slowly over to her vanity, pulling her devil horned headband off as she set it carefully down. She looked into the mirror, determination and exhaustion shining in her eyes. She knew what she had to do. There was only one way she would be able to keep her promise to Marco and she had to go through with it, no matter what.

Star took a deep breath, gathering what little energy she had, as she reached for her princess crown.

…

"Marco?" The voice was soft and familiar and Marco reveled in how comforting it was, even still lost in his dreams he heard the voice calling out to him and felt a need to answer. He moved uncomfortably in his sleep trying to will himself awake, slowly peeking open an eye, before shutting it again as the harsh sunlit attacked his unguarded pupil. He heard a giggle and felt his heart swell with... what? He wasn't sure. His heart seemed to swell with that emotion quite a bit, usually because of...

"Star?" Marco groggily called, finally recognizing the girl's voice, the lull of sleep releasing its hold on him once again. He sat up, squinting in the blinding sunlit as he stared into the face of his bestie. Star smiled softly at him, reaching out a hand as she gently smoothed out Marco's messy hair. "Morning," she said softly, her face just as pretty as ever.

"Morning," Marco muttered, before releasing a massive yawn, ignoring how soft Star's fingers were as they gently pet his head. Marco looked around the room, realizing he was in Star's room not his own, and for a second he was curious how he had ended up there. Then the memory came flooding back to him and he turned to Star in concern. "Did I fall asleep?"

Star gave him a strange look. "Obviously," she said, trying to hide the giggle that threatened to escape.

"Did... we get everything cleaned up?" Marco asked, his eyes wide with concern.

"Yep," she said. "All taken care of."

Marco sighed in relief. "Oh good for a second I thought I fell asleep before we finished," he admitted.

"Nope," Star said, finally removing her hand from his hair and he instantly missed the feeling of her touch. "You stayed up all night with me just like you promised."

"That's a relief," Marco breathed, before yawning again. "What time is it?"

"One."

"In the afternoon!" Marco exclaimed.

"Yep!" Star exclaimed, grabbing the startled Marco by the arm and yanking him to his feet. "So you better go get dressed because we are going to spend the rest of the day together, just the two of us!"

Marco's eyes widened in wonder. "Really!" he shouted in disbelief, his cute little grin making Star's heart thump uncontrollably in her chest.

"Yep!" she replied, shooting him a grin. "I promised we'd spend the day together and I keep true to my word."

"Awesome!" Marco shouted, pumping an excited fist in the air. But his look of joy switched to one of confusion as he finally took notice of Star's current outfit. "Umm, are you sure you don't have 'princess duties' you need to do first?"

"No, why?"

"Because your wearing your princess outfit," Marco explained, pointing to the fancy blue dress and crown Star always wore when she was attending to her required responsibilities.

Star followed Marco's gaze, looking down to the poofy dress with surprise, she had been so excited to wake Marco she had forgotten she was supposed to change. She flushed with embarrassment taking the golden crown delicately off her head. "Oh ummm, no," she stuttered, feeling like she had just been caught doing something wrong. "I was just going to... change."

"Okay," Marco hesitantly said, rubbing a hand nervously up and down his arm, feeling the room suddenly grow thick with tension. "I'm just going to..." he went to step around her but Star, sensing his movement, moved too, blocking his path to the door again. The two chuckled nervously, their cheeks both turning equal shades of red.

"Oh umm sorry," Star said, lowering her head to try and hide her blushing cheeks. "Let me just..." The two both moved simultaneously, blocking each others paths again, their cheeks somehow turning even more red as they stood face to face once again.

"Uhhhh..." Marco began, his heart thumping away in his chest at Star's close contact.

"Here, you go left," Star said, pointing to her left. "And I'll go right." She pointed to her other side, Marco nodding his head in understanding.

"O-okay," he responded before obeying Star's advice, the two quickly swapping sides of the room, their hands for just a second brushing. The two turned staring at each other for a moment. "Well I better..." the blushing boy started, gesturing to the door.

"Y-yeah," Star squeaked, her tight throat making speaking difficult. She cleared her throat before adding, "Yeah, sounds good. I'll meet you for breakfast in a few minutes."

Marco nodded. "'Kay."

With that the boy exited the room, the second the door shut Star releasing a sigh, putting a hand to her pounding heart. "That was close."

Star walked over to her vanity, putting the crown back in its proper place. She stifled a yawn as her aching body plopped down in the chair. "You got through all the paperwork and everything, Star," she reminded herself, with the room now empty Star's tired state becoming exposed. "You just have to get through a few hours with Marco and then you can rest." Star let out a tired sigh as she placed her head against the cool surface of her vanity, letting her weary eyes rest for a moment. "Just a few hours," she whispered again as she fought against the lull of sleep that called to her.

…

Marco took a few deep breaths, as the blood finally rushed out of his hot cheeks, his body pressed against Star's closed door. He closed his eyes, the image of Star's face permanently engraved into his subconscious. The hooded boy swallowed down the lump in his throat, as he opened his eyes once again, holding up his hand, his fingers still tingling from contact with his bestie. His hand shook slightly as that strange, yet fast becoming familiar, feeling flowed through him once again, making the boy smile.

He turned slightly toward Star's closed door, the smile never once leaving his lips, his eyes shimmering. Finally, he couldn't take his excitement anymore as he pumped a fist into the air, quietly shouting, "Yes! All day with Star." It felt like a dream come true, his desire to spend time with his best friend finally going to be filled. He quickly pushed off from the door, his thoughts racing a mile a minute, as he raced to his room to get changed.

…

Star stared down at her full plate of food, the freshly-made cornbread streaming as it awaited the girl to begin eating it. She looked over to Marco, who sat right next to her, stuffing food as quickly down his throat as possible, overly eager to begin the day with his bestie. The blond held in a giggle at how adorable Marco looked, his cheeks stuffed to the brim with the fresh food making him resemble a chipmunk.

"Slow down, Marco," Star teased, drawing the boy's attention to her, freezing mid-bite. "I wouldn't want you to choke before we can even start hanging out." She gave him a playful smile before pouring him a glass of water, which he took eagerly.

He quickly gulped down the soothing liquid, clearing his airway enough for him to talk. "Sorry," he said, once he was finished with the glass setting it softly in front of him. "I guess I just got carried away. I'm just _super_ excited to be spending time with you."

"Yeah me too," Star said softly.

"I mean I just can't stop thinking about what all we're gonna do together. I mean there are so many possibilities..."

Star tried to continue listening to the boy, but she was having trouble focusing, as the lull of sleep called out to her once again, Marco's voice drowning out into the background. Her eyes began drooping as her head suddenly felt heavy, like she was having trouble holding it upright. Her eyes slowly began closing shut as the world around her began fading into the distance. All she wanted was to rest her eyes, just for one moment...

"Star?"

Star's eyes flew open as she whipped her head around to the startled Marco, who jumped at Star's sudden movement. "What, sorry?!" she quickly shouted, trying to stand. But her legs were still wobbly from lack of sleep and she found herself, unable to support her weight, falling forward, right into Marco.

The boy was startled as Star landed in his pushed out chair, throwing his whole chair off-balance with the added weight, sending both of them to the floor. For the second time in 24 hours Star found herself pressed against Marco's chest, her face flushing as she heard the fast thumping of his heart, her own heart cheek marks beating in rhythm to his. She sat up slowly, freezing as Marco's chocolate brown eyes focused on her flushing face. He looked startled, giving her that same wide-eyed wonder he had given her in the yarn creature's cave, Star seeing the gears turning in his head as he tried to make sense of the sudden change.

Star had a flash of that night in the cave, when suddenly compelled with the urge to get kiss him, she had moved closer to him, resisting the overwhelming urge as she stood over the boy, who looked so helpless as he stared up at her, gazing at her like she was the most interesting thing in all of Mewni. He was so open and exposed in that moment, all she had had to do was lean in closer.

But now was different, now she felt embarrassed for clumsily knocking the boy over, now she was the one exposed, her tired mind screaming frantic messages at her to move. "S-Sorry," she whispered, trying to make herself stand, but she was frozen as her eyes remained locked with her besties, brown and blue caught in a hypnotic gaze.

But the moment was broken as the door to the room slammed open, Star and Marco turning to the person standing shocked in the doorway. Janna's mouths dropped open at the sight of her friend laying on top of the boy she was so obviously crushing on.

"Hey," Marco said from his position on the floor, sounding as casual as ever, giving the tiniest of waves. Janna's gaze jumped to Star, giving her a look.

"Soo uhhh," the dark hair girl started, raising a knowing eyebrow at Star. "What's going on?" Star suddenly panicked, realizing the thought process of her friend, rising off of the boy and onto her shaky feet once more.

She stood there awkwardly for a second, her fingers twitching nervously, as Marco stood too, unsure why they were acting so strange all of a sudden. Finally, Star tried to explain the situation to her friend, but Marco's close contact made her skitish and unsure, her voice stuttering uncontrollably. "Umm...I...we were...umm...I just...the thing is...we-we...it was an accident..." Star's muttering voice got quieter and quieter with every word until her voice drifted off and stopped all together, the room filling with an uncomfortable silence.

Marco, however, wasn't uncomfortable at all, still trying to figure out why Star was so embarrassed. "She tripped," he explained.

Star groaned in embarrassment, covering her flushed face with her hands.

"Oh I'm sure," Janna said with a smug smile, her eyes jumping to the princess for a second. Star lowered her hands from her face, her face still bright red. She kept her eyes on the floor, trying desperately not to look at anyone.

"It was an accident," she whispered again, her hands fiddling with a stand of blond hair.

"If you say so," Janna commented, giving Star a knowing wink.

Star finally recovered from her mortified state, shooting the creepy girl a glare. "It was!" she shouted, sounding defensive.

"Whatever you say," Janna said, putting an arm around Star.

"Ugh, Janna!" Star groaned, pulling out of her grip, shooting her a suspicious glare. "What are you doing here anyways? Are you spying on us?"

"What no," Janna defended. "I came here to eat. This _is_ the dining room."

Star looked around the room in shock, having forgotten what room they were in. "Oh. Right."

"Hey Star!" Everyone turned to see Jackie in the doorway, a wide smile on her face. "Mmm something smells good," the skater continued, sniffing the air. Then she froze suddenly noticing the awkward tension in the room, Star's face the picture of embarrassment. "Did I miss something?" she asked, confused.

"Nope, no," Star said, grabbing Marco by the arm and dragging him out of the room. "Marco and I were just leaving."

"We were?" Marco asked innocently, as he was pulled away.

Star ignored the boy, as she walked past the white-haired girl, making sure not to make eye contact, her face still slightly red. "Enjoy your meal," she called after the two, before closing the door behind her.

Jackie turned to her companion. "What was that about?" she asked, bewildered.

…

"So what do we do now?" Marco asked the princess, as the two walked quietly through the castle halls.

"No! I refuse! If I am not treated with some respect then you can hire some other chump!" Star and Marco stopped as they heard yelling from the other side of the door beside them.

"What was that?" Marco asked his bestie.

"Uhhh-" Star began, but she was cut off before she could answer, as a large man wearing a chefs hat and apron stormed into the room, the door slamming open, a smaller man following after, looking distressed.

"Please chef," the man began, making a begging motion to the burly man. "We need you. If you leave who will prepare tonight's dinner."

"Don't know, don't care," the man grunted, before removing his hat and throwing it to the ground, making Star and Marco jump. "I quit!"

With that the man turned on his heels and stomped out of the room, the smaller man following afterwards, still begging him to stay. Star and Marco turned to each other, their mouths open in shock at what they had just witnessed. "Was that the chef?" Marco asked in astonishment.

"I think so," Star answered, equally astonished.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Marco asked his royal friend.

Star nodded, with a sigh. "Yep. Great now I have to find a replacement chef for tonight," she mumbled, looking sad. "Guess we'll have to pick this up a different day."

"Maybe not," Marco suggested, his voice sounding deep in thought. Star turned to the hooded boy, giving him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

…

The head waiter sighed as he trudged his way back to the kitchen, unsuccessful in convincing the hard-headed chef to return to his duties. He paused just outside the door, muttering to himself, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Hand me that bowl, would you Star?" The waiter froze, unsure how he was hearing the voice of a young boy coming from the other side of the kitchen door.

His confusion was worsened as he heard a familiar, girlish voice echo through the thick wood frame, as well. "Sure. Hey, Marco, have you seen the whisk?"

"I don't think we need one for this recipe?"

"Ohhh, right."

The waiter's eyebrows pinched together in confusion, as he pressed his ear against the door, trying to hear more.

"Hey Star should we go ahead and light the oven?"

"Yeah! Now where does the chef keep the matches?"

With that, the waiter threw the door open, his mouth dropping open at the sight of Princess Star and a boy who he had seen hanging around her recently standing in the middle of the large kitchen space. The two looked up from their work, the boy wearing a chef's hat and in the process of cutting up slices of tomatoes, the girl, wearing an apron with her long, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, held a lit match over the stove. "What is going on here?!" the head waiter shouted, his voice releasing an unmanly squeak.

"We're making dinner," Marco explained innocently.

"What?!"

"Relax, Alfred," Star reassured, turning back to the stove, removing another match from the box, the first one having snuffed out during the blond's hesitation. "We overheard the chef quitting so we decided to cook dinner ourselves."

"That's not my name," the man muttered, before adding in a much louder voice. "But this simply isn't proper, uh, Your Highness." He dropped into a late bow, averting his eyes from the young royal. "Please allow some of the other servants to-"

"Nonsense," Star said, waving the man's comment away, not noticing the stove-top burst into flames as the match made contact with the hissing gas. "Me and Marco wanted to hang out anyways so this seemed like something fun we could do."

As the girl spoke, Marco, noticing the fire, pulled out the fire extinguisher and snuffed out the fire without Star's knowledge.

"But-" the head waiter began again, but Star was already pushing him out the door. "Relax we got this. You go and try to find someone else to fill the old chef's job."

"O-Of course, my Princess," the man stuttered trying to keep a respectful tone as he addressed his future leader, but there was obvious skepticism in his voice as he added, "But have you ever cooked before?"

Star let out a small laugh, waving another casual hand in the air. "Oh come on, it doesn't look that hard. Right, Marco?"

She turned to the hooded boy for conformation and he nodded, as he poured a bag of corn chips into a bowl. "Yeah. Besides I read the entire chapter on cooking in Mr. Candle's book and we have this really cool recipe book here."

"See," she said, turning back to the skeptic man. "We got this."

The waiter didn't seem convinced. But as he opened his mouth to object, Star slammed the door in his face, turning back to her bestie, shooting him a smile. "So what do I do first?" she asked, leaning against the countertop.

"Why don't you get to work on the cheese sauce?" he suggested and Star gave him a little nod.

"Sure." She obeyed, pulling out all the ingredients in the book's list, as Marco pulled out the cheese grater, handing it to the girl.

The two were silent for a moment, as they each worked on their own tasks, every few seconds either Star or Marco giving their companion a quick glance and smile before returning to work once again. "This was a good idea, Marco," Star finally said, as she sliced up the cheese.

"You think so," he asked, sounding almost giddy at the girl's praise.

"Yep. What did you call this dish again?"

"Umm," Marco squinted as he read the name of the Earth dish off the book. "Nachos."

"Hmm."

The two went silent for a moment again.

"Star?"

"Yeah." Star stopped, hearing the change in his voice, as she looked over to the boy who gave her a grateful smile.

"Thanks for spending time with me."

Star returned the smile. "No problem, Marco."

The two turned to their work once again, casting glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes, their cheeks turning bright pink.

…

Marco poured the thick cheese sauce all over the tasty corn chips, the two blending together perfectly, creating a delectable smell that made both teens stomachs growl. "Well that's the last batch," the boy said joyfully to his companion. But Star didn't reply, instead sniffing the air greedily, the longing look on her face making Marco smile in admiration of how pretty she was.

"Mmmmm," she said, picking up one of the nacho chips from the top of the batch and putting it into her mouth. Star's whole face lit up as she devoured the delicious treat greedily, Marco doing the same. "Wow," Star breathed, putting a hand to her face. "That is _sooo_ good."

Marco licked his lips, free of the cheese sauce, his mouth alive with a tasty sensation. "Yeah, that's pretty good."

"Pretty good," Star said, astonished. "No these were amazing! Awesome even!" Marco blushed at Star's compliment, the girl trying to ignore how her heart fluttered as he did. "You're a great cook, Marco."

"Well we both made them," he pointed out, averting his eyes as he fiddled with the tablecloth in embarrassment. But Star grabbed his hands, drawing his attention to her once again.

"No," she said softly, her blue eyes shining as they focused on his face. "You made them. I just helped where I could."

Marco gave Star the cutest grin of appreciation, pulling her unsuspectingly into a hug. Star hesitantly folded her arms around the boy's small frame, enveloping herself in his warmth, the edges of exhaustion tugging at the back of her mind at the comforting feel of Marco against her. "Thank you so much, Star. I had the best time with you."

"Your welcome, Marco," Star said, trying to keep the tiredness out of her voice.

The two finally pulled away, Marco suddenly gasping, as he looked up at the clock. "Oh no. It's almost dinner time."

Star followed his gaze, seeing that it was in fact almost time for everyone to come eat, the nacho making process taking a bit longer than expected, considering they were having to cook for an entire castle full of people. Marco began to panic, his breathing becoming erratic as he tried to struggled to keep his cool. "What if they don't like them?" he asked, his voice squeaking slightly. "What if nobody wants to eat any or they get mad or..."

Star put a comforting hand on his shoulder, stopping the boy's out-of-control thoughts. "Come on Marco. What do you have to be afraid of? Last night you took on a giant yarn monster all by yourself."

"Yeah but that was different," Marco said, still trying to calm down. "That was to save you." Star's eyes went wide, her heart cheek marks glowing bright red and throbbing, but Marco was too unsettled to notice.

"Why don't you take them out there? Tell them it was yours," the boy continued, looking like he was on the verge of hiding under the table.

Star shook her head softly at Marco's nervousness, a small smile on her face as her cheek marks went back to their normal state. "Hey," she put a hand softly on Marco's cheek, turning his face so she could look deep into his eyes. "You got this," she said, her voice sounding far more confident then Marco felt. "I believe in you."

Marco's nervous face finally relaxed, giving her one of his signature smiles that Star craved. The blond tried to hold in her coo that was threatening to spill from her lips over how adorable he looked. So instead, afraid her resolve would break, she pulled the boy to his feet, giving him a gentle push toward the door. "You go get the others. I'll stay here and watch the food."

Marco turned to her for a second, his eyes full of fear, until Star gave him another comforting smile, making a little shooing motion with her hands. The boy took a deep breath, leaving the kitchen, the door closing shut behind him. Star chuckled slightly at Marco's cuteness, before releasing another yawn. She lay her head on the counter-top, allowing her eyes to close for a moment, the pressure to stay awake fading alone in the room. Her breathing became slower and slower as the lull of sleep caught up with her, making keeping her eyes open impossible. "I'll just rest my eyes for one little minute..."

…

Star opened her eyes, letting out a small yawn, her eyes trying to focus in the low light. Star sat up fast, unsure why everything was so dark when she had only closed her eyes for a moment. She looked around, realizing she was in her own room, half-buried under her think, warm sheets. Star was confused to say the least, racking her brain for any memory of how she had ended up in her bed. She frowned, her mind still trying to figure out this strange situation as she lay back down. That was when she noticed the slumbering form laying right next to her.

Marco was spread out on top of the sheets, his face peaceful as he slept, his face just a few inches from her own and she felt her heart rate spike as Marco's warm breath tickled her face. If her cheeks could blush anymore in that moment she would probably die from blood loss. Star was in shock at the realization that her crus... bestie was laying next to her in her bed and she had no idea how it had even happened, her mind coming to a screeching halt, unable to process anything but how precious Marco looked.

Star shook her head free from the pestering thoughts as she reached a hand out, gently shaking the boy. "Marco?" she whispered, desperate to get answers but still feeling bad for waking him from what seemed to be a pleasant dream.

Marco groaned, but stayed asleep, his face scrunching up in the cutest way. She shook him again, calling his name, this time a little louder. Finally, Marco's eyes slowly opened, his tired voice groggily calling to the person interrupting his sleep. "I don't want to get up yet Bu... Star?"

The boy went from half-asleep to fully awake in a second, upon recognizing the blond girl in front of him. He shot up from the bed, almost mimicking Star a moment ago, looking around the room with bleary eyes and a confused mind. Star sat up once again, as well, keeping a close eye on the boy. "Marco what are we doing in my room?" she asked. "I-In bed," she hesitantly added, her voice having trouble choking out the last word, her heart cheek marks throbbing once.

The hooded Mewman cocked his head to the side, his face intensely concentrated as he tried to recall how they had gone from the kitchen to Star's room, his mind still drawing a blank. Finally, realization seemed to hit. "Ohhhh," Marco said, nodding his head. "Right. Well I went to find the others and when I got back you were asleep, so Jackie and Janna helped me bring you here."

"Wait," Star interrupted, a sudden concern in the boy's story. "Jackie and Janna helped you. Why didn't you just wake me?"

"I was going to, but then everyone told me that you got all your work done this morning, which I guess explains you wearing your princess dress..." Star averted her eyes from Marco, feeling guilty. "So I figured that meant you hadn't gotten any sleep so I brought you here so you could rest. Then Janna said I should keep an eye on you, so I stayed here, but I got tired and-"

"Why would you do that?!" Star suddenly exclaimed, her eyes welling with sudden tears, Marco jumping at Star's sporadic mood shift.

"W-What?" the boy whispered.

"You weren't supposed to let me sleep. We were supposed to spend the whole day together!"

"But you were tired."

"Yeah, but now I'm a liar. I-I didn't keep my promise." Star's voice drifted off as she stared down at her covers, guiltily, pulling her legs up to her chest. Her stomach churned with discomfort, her head screaming insults at herself. She was supposed to spend the day with Marco, the boy who had risked his life for her and she couldn't even stay awake a few hours to please him. She was pathetic.

Finally, she risked a glance upwards, her heart twisting up into an even tighter knot as she saw the look of sadness on the boy's face. "I'm sorry, Marco," she muttered dejectedly. "I'm not mad. I just..." she sighed. "I wanted to make you happy. And I failed." Star looked down once again, trying to hide the tears that were still threatening to spill.

The room was silent for a moment, save for Star's sniffling, neither teen daring to look each other in the eyes. After what felt like an eternity, Marco looked up at the girl, seeing the look of sadness on her face and feeling the need to cheer her up. He took a moment to think, trying to come up with something to say to cheer the girl up. He took a deep breath. "You didn't fail," he said, the girl's eyes darting up, blue meeting brown once again. "You did make me happy."

"How?" Star whispered.

"Well I got to try cooking, something I never would've gotten to do before I met you and then I got to share it with everyone, something I never would have been brave enough to try if you hadn't encouraged me to. And... I got to spend time with you."

Marco's face turned slightly red, but it was hard for Star to tell in the darkness of the room. "So I had a good day, because I got to spend it with you."

Star's face softened, a small smile on her lips. "Even if it wasn't all of it?" she asked, her voice shaking with guilt.

Marco shook his head. "No." He shot her a smile. "All day or just a few minutes, it doesn't matter I just... really like seeing you."

Star gave him a blank look, until finally she threw her arms around him in a hug. Marco froze up only for a second, before returning the hug, the two smiling to themselves as they enjoyed being around their favorite person in the whole world.

"We will watch the sunset tomorrow though, right?" Marco asked the girl.

"Of course, Marco."

The two finally broke the hug, just staring into each others eyes. "So did they like the nachos?" Star finally asked, not looking away from the boy for even a second.

"Yep." Marco replied. "They said they want me to cook for them more often. Oh! Speaking of which." The boy suddenly turned, reaching down to the floor and picking up a bowl of the now cold nachos. "They're kinda cold, but you can have some if you want them."

Star giggled. "How can I resist some of Marco's Super Awesome Nachos," she said. Marco gave her a confused look. "That's what I'm going to call them."

"What about Marco _and_ Star's Super Awesome Nachos?" he supplied, giving her another smile.

"Deal," the girl said, returning the smile. She took a bite of them, taking on a thoughtful expression. "Hmmm, they do taste better hot. Oh, I got it," she exclaimed, picking up her wand from the nightstand, tapping it against the bowl. It sparkled with magic for a second, before steaming with heat, the smell of freshly cooked nachos filling the room. The two sniffed the air eagerly, before digging into the bowl, settling back on the bed as the two just enjoyed each others company, once again.

 **And that is it for this cute little fluffball of a chapter. I always intended on doing a strictly Starco fluff chapter, so when I got the chance to I knew I had to role with it and since the next one is going to be a bit more dramatic and the last two were kind of, as well, I wanted to take a break and just build on their little relationship. Plus, I needed Starco. I needed it so baddd.**

 **Oh, and I am completely caught up on Star vs now, so that's cool. And if your wondering what I think... AHHHHHHHH! IT'S AMAZING! He he. Okay, composed once again. Anyways, fill free to leave me a comment and let me know how I did in an exclusively fluff chapter. Hope you guys didn't explode or anything from cuteness! I know I almost did. :3**

 **Anyways, bye guys, I'll see you all in two weeks. Love you all!**

 **S.t.a.r.c. .131313- I know, waiting is hard, but patience, all will be revealed in time. I'm not done with Toffee yet.**

 **Christopherprime22- Oh hey! Good to hear from you! So sorry to hear you've had such a hard time and the thought of my story contributing _any_ to that is just so sad. Ugh, how awful! I do understand for not reviewing and like I said before, just do it whenever you can, you don't have to feel pressured. **

**Okay for actual chapter. Yeah, sorry you didn't enjoy part 1 as much as the other ones. Ironically Tom is one of my favorite characters in the show and while I didn't care as much for Pony in season 1, I actually loved her a lot more in seasons 2 and 3, but when I first came up with this story this was one of the first ideas I had to make them the bad kids who get Star into trouble because that is what they are use to, so I knew I had to keep it in. So I did make them purposely unlikable. Still, sorry it affected you _so_ negatively. :( **

**As for part 2, I am glad to know you did enjoy this one. And you did grow to forgive Tom and Pony somewhat. I tried to portray them in a fair way as I didn't want them to just be basically bullies, but have some form of redeemablity. And it was nice to hear your thoughts on the matter. And as for Starco moments, yes! My baby is growing up! Being all brave for Star! *cries tears of joy* I'm also so proud!**

 **Now onto songs. Sooo glad I suggested that song to you, it's one of my favorites! Though I am shocked you went so long _without_ knowing about it. Huh, I did a good deed today. If you liked the song, you should check out the movie, it's actually _really_ good. Now for "Magic", I am so glad you've heard this song, too. Great minds think alike, I guess! I heard this one after getting into Star, but I do adore both videos for Mystery Skulls, but since I am a hardcore Starco shipper I have already related this one to our two lovable dorks, it fits them sooo perfectly. This is the one I wish I could animate for, because I would love to do something with this song. **

**Now I'm actually going to give you two suggestions this time (though don't fill like you have to, too) mostly because the first one isn't actually so much Starco as much as just a good song I easily relate to Star vs. It's called "Monday Night (Volant Remix)" I found a Star video for this one (coupled with a show I haven't seen: Bee and Puppy Cat) and I found it strangely relaxing, I played it a lot while working on this chapter and since I know stressful you've been feeling I hoped it might help relax you some. Also it's just really good background music for this chapter. Now for actual Starco song I'm gonna go with "Can't Live Without You" by Owl City. I adore this song and fill like it fits our couples current relationship, as well as the one I created, how I try to have them always looking out for each other.**

 **Well I think that's it! Hope you enjoy the songs and the chapter. I wasn't sure which one I was gonna do next, but when I got your message I was like "Okay, time to pull out the fluff chapter! Save the drama for later." Hehe. Anyways, I'll talk to you later friend and sorry you had to wait so long to hear from me again! It was torture on my part too.**

 **Incognito- Haha, yeah she is! Also, glad to hear your enjoying! Sorry for the wait on an update! *sheepish laugh* Things have been busy! Hope you keep enjoying! ;)**

 **Sugar- Thanks! I'm glad you liked it so much. I actually came up with this idea long before season 3, but I am actually glad to see Star trying to be a better princess in the cannon, even if she doesn't always make the right call. She's new to all of this and so she doesn't have all the answers I feel like. But she's trying and that's all that matters. As for Marco, well, she'll come around, she just needs to work out her feelings first.**

 **KEVIN- Okay, here you go!**

 **SJMT shipper- Of course I ship Jantom! How could I not?! They're adorable! And yes I did see the new episode... they finally met! My OTP is justified! I'm honestly not sure who all else ships them, but its my story so I can do whatever I want. *laughs evilly* MWHAHAHAHAAA**

 **Wow where did that come from? Anyways, don't feel bad for reviewing late, I posted late so it's cool, just do it when you can, no pressure. Awww, thank you sooooo much for spreading my story around, it means so much to me! It's sweet that you think my story is actually good enough to suggest it to other people. Also, haha your friend sounds a lot like me! ;)**

 **Finally, thank you for the concern but you don't have to worry, I've been feeling fine, just super busy. Like wayyyyy too busy :( But thank you so much, you are soooo sweet. Really you two are! Bye friends, here have some hugs! *HUGS!***

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	10. Secrets

Chapter 9: Secrets

 **Happy New Year! Hi, everyone! So good to be back! Sorry I got this one out late, too, life were busy again. I wanted to get this out on Christmas Eve, but turns out the week before Christmas is not a good time for writing, for whatever reason I thought the week after would be busier. *sighs* Oh well, just consider this my reallllly late Christmas gift to you or New Year's gift or... y'know what, its just a gift for the holidays.**

 **So I hope you all had a Merry Christmas (I know I did) and an even happier New Year and thank you all so much for all your love and support of my story. Thanks to you I actually reached** _ **100 followers**_ **! Wow! I never thought something of mine would ever get to be that popular and that just warms my heart to know you all care. What a great Christmas gift!**

 **So I'll leave you all to it, hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. and all its characters is owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

 _You continue to be a disappointment._

…

 _When we do wrong we must be punished. And these scars are proof of your crimes._

 _…_

 _Now don't give me that look, Marco. You brought this on yourself._

 _…_

 _We both know you'd never survive in the real world._

"No!" Marco screamed, sitting up in his bed. He took a few deep breaths, as he looked around the dark room, trying to make sense of the world he was in once again. The panicked boy's whole body was coursing with adrenaline, as the nightmare still clung tightly to his fragile mind. But as reality finally began to settle in and he realized he wasn't in any danger, his pounding heart began to slow, his breathing becoming more controlled.

He put a hand to his head, tugging unknowingly at a few stray strands of brown hair. Though the initial fear was gone, he still felt sick as the unwanted memories continued to cycle though his mind, making the boy shudder. He knew he shouldn't get so worked up but he couldn't help it, this was his first real nightmare since coming to this place, his dreams usually peaceful and calming, but now he felt the familiar pangs of guilt course through his gut. He didn't know what had brought the uncomfortable feeling on, but now all he wanted to do was to get rid of it.

Without even realizing it he was on his feet, walking to the door. He didn't want to be alone, not right then, he needed comfort from the stabbing guilt, he needed Star.

…

Star wasn't in her room and the hooded boy was puzzled as to her location. Marco frowned as he traveled the dark hallways of the castle, confused as to where Star could possibly be this late at night, trying to recall if she had mentioned anything to him when they had watched the sunset. But, never the less, the girl wasn't there and that, in Marco's mind, left only one other option as to the girl's location.

"Jackie, Janna," Marco called as he reached the girls' door, giving a quick knock before stepping inside, his plaguing thoughts making him impatient. "Have you seen Starrrrrr-"

Marco froze in the doorway at the sight in front of him. Jackie turned to the boy with fear, shouting in surprise, "Marco!" The reason for her concern seemed to be the other occupant of the room, whom Jackie was doing her best to hide from the boy's view to no avail. Janna, who gave the boy the same smug expression she normally wore, didn't look like her usual, creepy self. She looked like a far creepier version: her skin was a light purple color making her look sickly, her hair was even messier than usual and far more thick, looking more like a fur coat than her own mop of hair. Her eyes were glowing green matching the glow of her own skull cheek marks, which had transformed to look less cutesy and more scary. Her ears had grown and sharpened to a point looking like bat ears and her twin fangs too had seemed to have grown some in size, looking more sinister than ever. Her nails had also grown in length looking more like claws. Overall, she looked less like a Mewman and more like a... monster.

For a few moments, the room was deathly silent as Marco's mouth dropped open in shocked awe at the bizarre-looking girl, Jackie tensing up, waiting for the boy to react to this strange, new development. But soon the tension became unbearable, the skater deciding it best to at least try to calm her startled friend. She took a careful step closer to the boy, afraid to upset him, keeping her hands raised. "Marco," she began, keeping her voice at a soothing whisper. "It's okay. Don't-"

But before she could even finish Marco started to scream and Jackie had to lunge forward, covering his mouth to stifle his screaming. "Shhhh," she hissed, putting a finger to her lips. "Calm down dude. We don't want the others to find out."

Marco just stared at her with wide, fearful eyes, trying to find reason amongst this new revelation. But slowly, he seemed to calm, as he stared deep into the bright eyes of his friend, his breathing slowing and Jackie finally felt it was safe to remove her hand from the boy's mouth.

"Now you need to keep quiet, okay?" Jackie said, her voice a soothing whisper.

"Yeah, Marco, loud much," Janna spoke up, drawing the boy's attention, once again, to the girl's new form and he felt panic and confusion rush through him. Suddenly, the world began to fade around him, the edges of his vision going black, as his head spun uncontrollably. He felt a moment of weightlessness, as the floor rushed toward him.

"Oh no, he's gonna-"

Then the world went black.

…

"We can't tell him about this!" a muffled voice yelled, as the dark slowly began to fade from Marco's comatose mind, the ringing in his ears making the person's voice sound distant and faded.

"Well what do you want me to say, it was all a dream?" an equally faded voice answered, Marco slowly peeling open his eyes, the world spinning slightly and he felt a slight wave of nausea.

"Yeah and he would probably buy it. I mean... it's Marco."

The boy groaned as his stomach churned with discomfort, sitting up slightly, rubbing his sore head. "Marco!" Jackie's voice cried out, back to its usual, cool tone, the world losing its faded quality as focus returned to the boy once again.

"Jackie?" Marco groggily answered. "I had the weirdest dream..." The boy removed the hand from his head, looking over to the source of the sound only to stare at shock at the small bat sitting at the foot of the bed. It was a dark-purple, looking almost black, and, strange enough, it was wearing Janna's brown beanie. It also held Janna's phone between its wings, lightly tapping the screen, and it gave the boy that same stare that the girl always seemed to have on.

"Morning, sleepyhead," the bat greeted, its voice the same as his friends. Marco stared at the semi-familiar creature in shock for a minute, before screaming once again, scrambling to get off the bed.

But Marco's panic ended as he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to see Jackie standing over him. "Calm down, dude," she said in a soothing voice, Marco's heart-rate slowly lowering under Jackie's calming gaze.

"W-What is- Who is- Is that _Janna_?!" Marco stuttered, his voice a high-pitched squeak as he pointed to the small bat that was once his friend, who was vastly ignoring the boy's freakout, finding her phone far more entertaining.

"Yes Marco," Jackie said, keeping her voice calm. "That is Janna."

"But how?!" he squeaked, pressing himself against the bed-frame.

"It's my Trait, duh," Janna said, with a roll of her eyes. "I can turn into a bat."

"So earlier, when you looked all weird, that was part of your Trait, too?" the boy asked, still looking disheveled, his eyes darting between the faces of his friends for an explanation.

"Nah that's because I'm half-monster," Janna admitted, giving a casual shrug.

"Half... monster?" Marco repeated, his eyes widening.

Janna looked over to see her roommate giving her a disbelieving stare, in shock that Janna would admit such a huge secret to the boy. "What?" Janna said with a shrug. "He saw me change anyway. Might as well fill him in on the rest."

"So then the fangs," the boy continued slowly, his mind still trying to wrap it's way around this new revelation. "The ones you said were fake..."

"Totally real," Jackie finished, giving a shrug. "It was one of the only things we couldn't fake, so Janna had to improvise."

"Yep and since everyone already considers me a freak, they didn't think anything of it," Janna smirked, looking quite pleased with her charade.

"But how do you- WHY did you?!" Marco rambled, his breathing becoming heavy and shaky, his face wide with disbelief, his jittery hands pulling at his hair.

"Oh boy," Jackie said, putting hands to her hips. "Looks like we have some explaining to do." She looked over to the bat-girl with concern. "You sure your okay with this?"

"Yeah go ahead," Janna waving a nonchalant claw in the air. "Better fill him in quick before his brain explodes."

Jackie nodded, sitting down on the bed. "Okay Marco." This instantly drew the boy's full attention. "Maybe we should start from the beginning."

Marco stayed silent, his eyes wide with curiosity and confusion. Jackie took a deep breath, before beginning the story.

"Really the whole thing started with Star..."

...

 _Little eight-year-old Star walked quickly as she struggled to keep up with her father, who walked forward with a confident stride, practically running to remain at his side. Normally her dad would take the time to make sure his daughter could keep up and not feel left out, but today he was more concerned with the matter at hand, not even looking behind him to make sure his daughter was there. Or maybe he had forgotten she was._

 _Little Star looked around her at the ruined buildings that had once been a bustling city, some smoke still rising off some of the scorched buildings, the attack having just ceased only a few hours ago and the first-responders still struggled to gain some control over the damage. Normally, her parents would do everything in their power to keep Star away from such destruction,but the two had come across the place by accident, having just gotten back from a long camping trip in the woods (as far away from monsters as possible). But it seemed they hadn't escaped danger, as they walked through the broken remains of what was once a thriving Mewman city._

 _Star, still distracted by the sight, bumped into her father who had stopped walking. She peeked around the safety of her father to see a couple of scary-looking knights who had their hands to their chest, all bowed to their king, save for the obvious leader. "Sir!" the man grunted, his voice sounding gruff and scratchy to Star. "Thank corn you've come!"_

 _"What seems to be the trouble?" the king spoke, his normally light and cheery voice, suddenly hard and formal. Star didn't like it when he talked like that, especially when he was talking about that one monster Toffee, he always sounded so mad to Star and she hated hearing her daddy so unhappy._

 _"We believe that this village was attacked by a group of Impures. We managed to fight them off, but as for the villagers... I'm afraid it was too late."_

 _The men all bowed their heads, a silent tension filling the area, making Star feel jittery and uncomfortable. But during the silence, Star heard a noise coming from one of the buildings. She looked over to the ruined shack with curiosity, before looking back to her father and the guards to see if they heard the noise too._

 _But they seemed distracted, as the three guards continued to talk to her father, and so the little royal tugged at her fathers cape, trying to gain his attention. "But there hasn't been a case of Impures in the kingdoms since- eh?" The king looked down to his little daughter, clinging tightly to his leg, almost surprised to see her there. He asked the guard to excuse himself for a moment, before bending down so he was level with her._

 _"Daddy I thought I heard a-"_

 _"Listen, my darling, I know all this stuff is boring but I need you to wait in the carriage while your daddy takes care of all this," the king said, too distracted to hear the little girl, patting her softly on the head._

 _"But daddy I-"_

 _"Go on, Star," he continued, giving her a little push toward the carriage. "I'll be along shortly."_

 _Star opened her mouth to argue, but her father had already returned to his conversation with the guards, once again, trusting that the little girl would be able to find her way to the carriage with no problems. The little royal gazed at the carriage for a moment, just a few feet away and easily in sight, she doubted there would be any trouble getting over there alone. But then again..._

 _Her attention changed to the building where she had heard the noise and her curiosity spiked. Although it wasn't as safe as the other option, the little girl felt her curiosity burning inside her as she remembered the sound from before. Although it was quiet and faded, she could have sworn that it sounded like someone was... crying._

 _And so on top of everything else, now she felt a need to help the person, felt a longing to be useful to the person who was suffering within the ruined building. So, with one last look at her father, she jogged over to the building as fast as her little legs could carry her. She paused for a moment outside the door, fear suddenly claiming her, making her shake a little as she stared into the dark room._

 _The door to the house (or she thought was a house) had been torn off its hinges, the dark wood scarred with deep claw marks, the door-frame in a similar state. Within the building she could see small tufts of light, lighting up patches of the interior, but most of the room was bathed in shadows and mystery. She shuddered once, before gathering her nerve, and stepping inside, climbing over the troublesome door._

 _Little Star walked quietly though the badly-lit room, her eyes darting around often for any sign of life in the little ruined shack. Within the building it was even worse, the furniture had been flipped over and ripped apart, the once cherished belongings smashed to pieces on the floor, forgotten by the people within. And Star began to feel unnerved as the only sound she heard within the room was her own echoing footsteps._

 _She stopped for a moment, listening into the deafening silence for any form of noise within the now-quiet room, her eyes slowly starting to adjust to the lack of light, and she was able to make out a staircase leading up to the second story of the building. She considered approaching it, but her nerves were beginning to wear thin as she felt the slow edges of fear take over once again. She jumped as she heard a cry echo around the room, it was meek and pathetic, the hopelessness in their tone tugging at Star's heartstrings._

 _She followed the general direction of the voice, coming across a spiraling staircase leading to the second story floor. She looked up at the stretching staircase, her eyes wide with fear. She gulped, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. She wanted to run and find her father, but she had come this far and she wasn't sure whoever was up there could wait long enough for her to recapture her father's attention. No. It had to be her. There was no other way._

 _She took a deep breath, steeling her nerve as she began climbing the scarred staircase. Every little creak made her grimace, her little heart pounding away in her tiny chest as every step took her closer to the moaning's source. She heard the cry much more as she went, whoever it was suddenly no longer caring about keeping their presence unknown as they wept loudly._

 _"Hello," Star called, as she finally reached the top of the steps, the crying instantly stopping, leaving the unnerving silence in its place. The little girl held back another shiver as she called out again. "Helllooo? Is anyone he-"_

 _"Go away!" a voice called from the shadows, making Star look around her curiously._

 _"So there is someone here?" she whispered quietly to herself._

 _"Yes, there is!" the voice answered, leaving the eight-year-old confused as to how they had heard her. "But you need to leave if you know what's good for you." The voice was obviously trying to sound intimidating, but Star could still hear the fear laced in her every word. Her. Yes, the owner of the voice was a girl. Star smiled at her revelation._

 _"I just want to help," she said, taking a few steps forward, into the shadows._

 _"That's close enough!"_

 _The young royal froze, looking around at the darkness in confusion. "You can see me?"_

 _"Of course I can!" the girl sounded angry at the statement._

 _"But it's so dark?" Star responded innocently, folding her hands in front of her, and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She was no longer afraid, even standing in the middle of the shadows, the voice somehow soothing her, despite it's opposite intentions to scare her away. "You must have really good eyes."_

 _There was silence for a moment and Little Star began to worry she had upset the girl. "Do you... know what I am?" the voice asked quietly._

 _Star shook her head, her twin pigtails bobbing as she did. "No." There was another moment of silence from the other side of the room and the princess called out to her, but it seemed the girl was done talking, keeping silent so Star couldn't locate her. Though the girl's eyes began to adjust to the lack of light, she couldn't spot the other beneath all the piles of rubble that scattered the upstairs rooms. After a moment of shouting, Star became frustrated, stomping her little foot cutely, her cheeks puffing up, as she stormed forward into the shadows._

 _The voice became panicked, seeing the princess approaching and started to shout at her to leave. "Wait, stop! Don't come any closer! I said stop!" But it was a mistake, Star able to pinpoint her location based on all the shouting and find where the girl was hiding. The young royal slowed down as she approached the shaking form of the girl, or at least, she thought it was a girl. Her appearance, in truth, more closely resembled a monster than a Mewman and Star felt her heart began to pound in fear. The girl seemed to be trapped there, her arm pinned by a large piece of wood, but Star couldn't tell how deep the injury went from that angle, though if the blood on her shoulder was any indication it seemed her arm was impaled into the wall. She could see dried tear marks running down the girl's face, but she showed no signs of helplessness as she glared at her rescuer. Star could only stare open-mouthed at the half-monster, too afraid to move any closer but unable to take a step back, either._

 _Suddenly, the other girl hissed at her, barring her fangs at the little royal and Star squeaked and took a frightened step back. The half-monster scoffed at the her reaction, shaking her head. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Not too quick to help now that you know I'm an Impure."_

 _Star took a moment to gather her nerve as she finally asked, "What are you?"_

 _The Impure rolled her eyes. "An Impure. I just said it," she muttered._

 _"Are you... a monster?" Star whispered in fear._

 _"No." the other hissed, looking away, through was if from anger or embarrassment Star couldn't tell._

 _"Do you have a name?" the girl tried._

 _The other paused for a moment, trying to decide if it was a good idea to tell this girl or not. "Janna," she finally muttered, not looking happy about giving away her identity ._

 _"Janna." Star repeated, louder. "Well I'm Star and I'm here to help you," she added cheerfully, shooting her a grin._

 _"Like I need your help," Janna grunted._

 _Star looked over to the girl's pinned arm. "Sure you do, your hurt." She took a step forward, but once again Janna hissed at her, making her jump._

 _"Stay back!"_

 _"I just want to help," Star answered, keeping her eyes on the girl as she slowly reached out a hand toward her. In a flash, the half-monster grabbed her arm, holding her in place and keeping her from running off. But the young royal didn't scream like Janna expected her to, just looking down at the half-monster in confusion. "I can't help if you won't let me," she said innocently and the Impure's face softened at the unexpected statement._

 _The two stared at each other for a moment, one with a look of confusion, the other with a smile. Finally, the half-monster released her hold on the girl and allowed her to examine the board closer, keeping a leery eye on her. Star looked at the wood closely, running a hand along the rough wood. Though it was a tight press against the girl's arm, it hadn't pierced her skin, the blood coming from her own claw marks trying to pull her arm free against its will. She pushed against it once, but it stayed in place._

 _Star backed up a bit, trying to find a weakness in the board's frame, finding none. She went at it again, pulling and tugging with all her might, ignoring the regular eye rolls Janna was giving her. She huffed and puffed, wrapping her arms around the thick wood frame, pulling with all her might. Finally, she felt it give a little, moving just the tiniest of inches._

 _Janna felt it, too. Her eyes widening as she looked at the board. Star finally let go, panting as she tried to catch her breath. "There see, with a bit more strength we can get this off you in-"_

 _"No!" Janna screamed, her voice cracking with fear, the first real show of emotion she had given since Star found her. She grabbed the princess' arm again, but much gentler than before. "You can't tell anyone else about this! If they knew they'd kill me!"_

 _"But my daddy-"_

 _"No! No one else! Don't you understand... don't you get what kind of danger I'm in!" She shook the girl a little, tears rising at the corners of her eyes, but she made no move to wipe them away, staring deep into her savior's eyes._

 _"Star?" Star turned her head, hearing a voice calling her name from outside. It was her daddy and he sounded worried. Star went to go leave, forgetting her arm was still held hostage by the other girl, as she was immediately pulled back. She looked into the eyes of Janna, who gave her a look of pure desperation. "Please," she whispered._

 _Star looked back at the direction her father had called, hearing her name shouted again, then back to the pleading girl. "Okay," Star finally said and the other breathed a sigh of relief._

 _"Thank you," she muttered, releasing the girl._

 _"Star!"_

 _Her father sounded desperate now. Star felt guilt at her father's worry and turned back to Janna. "I gotta go," she whispered. "But I'll come back tonight and then I'll help you get out," she quickly added._

 _The half-monster nodded, but looked like she didn't quite believe her, hopelessness spreading across her face. "I promise," Star said, making her voice sound as believable as possible, trying to remember her mother's lessons on a princess' tone. Whatever that meant._

 _Janna gave her a weak smile, but her face remained unchanged. Star wanted to stay to comfort her, but her father's voice called out again, sounding close, and Star feared he would find the two. So instead she turned on her heels and ran off, calling out to her concerned dad that she was there, not noticing Janna's smile vanish as soon as the girl left, laying her head back, waiting for the end to come._

 _The second Star reached her dad, she was pulled into a huge hug that only her daddy could give, followed by a firm scolding about running off and doing as she was told. Star nodded often, as her father continued his disconnected rant (her mother was much better at those then him) his speech somehow trailing off and going on about some sun-thing named Helios and how much of a jerk he was. But inside her head, she was beginning to hatch a plan on getting the half-monster girl out of her predicament... a plan that involved a certain someone._

…

 _Tom sighed, as his close friend dragged him through the empty streets of the ruined city. She said nothing, her face looking excited and happy, which was pretty typical of Star. He had no idea why they were there, all Star had said was she needed help with something and not to tell anyone. Which didn't surprise Tom, that was most of the adventures they went on. Still it was pretty strange to be dragged through some ghost town in the middle of the night._

 _"What are we doing out here, Star?" Little Tom asked and Star immediately shushed him, putting a hand over his mouth, despite no one else being anywhere around. Her eyes darted around quickly looking for any signs of life, before turning back to Tom, removing her hand._

 _"I found someone out here earlier," Star whispered. "And I need your help to save them."_

 _Tom frowned. Another orphan? "Why didn't you just ask your mom or dad for help?" Tom asked, trying not to sound annoyed, his cheek flames simmering a little. As much as he hated to admit it, he tended to get a bit jealous of the orphans stealing Star's time away from him. Especially that one orphan with the awful sounding music-_

 _"Tooommm!" Star whined, distracting him from his thoughts, as he looked into her cute, puppy dog eyes. "I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone, but I know you can keep a secret so I need yoooouuu!"_

 _Tom released a mental sigh of relief. The orphan was a girl. Satisfied that he had no new rival to deal with, he gave Star a confident smirk. "Okay fine, princess. But you owe me one."_

 _Star bounced up and down, clapping her hands together in joy, shouting, "Yaaayyy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She stopped bouncing, as she snatched up Tom's arm and began dragging him toward their destination once again. "Come on let's go!" Tom quickly matched her pace, so the two were walking side by side and Star turned to him, her face for just an instance losing its smile and switching to an annoyed glare. "And don't call me princess."_

…

 _Janna sat quietly on the floor her whole body sore and aching. Laying in an uncomfortable position on the floor wasn't helping her at all and she could feel her strength diminishing with every second that passed, the pain in her arm almost unbearable. Normally she would be strong enough to snap a board like that in half, her half-monster blood granting her incredible strength, but it had landed in an awkward position when it fell and she couldn't get a good hold on it with her one good arm. The other she was pretty sure she had broken under the massive weight._

 _She tried to move a little to a better, more comfortable position, but hissed as pain shot up her shoulder. She was really starting to regret clawing at her arm earlier when she had been in too much of a mad panic to get free to realize the damage she was ultimately doing to herself. She had just been so desperate to get away without getting caught, adrenaline and fear numbing her pain. Honestly, she had been lucky to have gone this long without getting spotted, the Mewmans no doubt searching every building for any signs of survivors. Though it was only a matter of time..._

 _Janna sighed, pulling her legs up to her chest. This whole thing seemed hopeless. She was going to die here, one way or another._

 _"Helllloooo, Jannnnnaaaa are you still here?" a familiar voice called in the dark and Janna's head shot up with surprise. No. It couldn't be._

 _"Star?" Janna murmured. Then, much to Janna's disbelief, Star appeared, climbing the last of the unstable steps leading to that floor, a bright and cheery smile on her face despite the direness of the situation. Though she tried to fight it, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of the young blond, not quite sure she could believe she was really there. She had honestly held out no hope that Star would come back for her and yet here she was, grinning into the encompassing shadows in front of her, with no hesitation or fear._

 _But Janna's smile dropped as she saw the second figure walk up behind Star. Janna felt fear clench her chest once again. "You promised!" she screamed, out into the shadows, making the two jump._

 _"What was that?" Tom asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice._

 _"Oh that's Janna," Star replied, nonchalantly._

 _"What?!"_

 _"Sorry Janna," Star called into the shadows, ignoring Tom, cupping a hand over her mouth so she could project her voice clearer. "I know I said I wouldn't tell anyone else but Tom is my friend and we can trust him."_

 _"I don't care!" Janna's voice echoed around the room. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone else!"_

 _"But-"_

 _"Just go away and leave me alone!"_

 _"Come on, Janna. You know you need my help," Star tried again, taking a cautious step forward, Tom reaching out a hand to stop her. "And I need Tom's so you're just going to have to trust me."_

 _"It's not you I don't trust," Janna responded after a moment of silence. "It's him!"_

 _Tom felt his anger flare, his fear forgotten, his cheek flames igniting into flaming torches, Star turning to her friend with surprise. "And what is that supposed to mean!"_

 _Star helplessly held out a hand, hoping to calm him down. "Tom wait don't-"_

 _But Tom bypassed Star, storming forward as his eyes began to glow bright red, his voice growing deeper and more menacing as he spoke. "I came out her in the middle of the night to help you and the least you do is show a little gratitude!"_

 _Tom froze, his cheek flames snuffing out instantly, as he finally came face to face with the girl who had the nerve to mock him, thrown off guard by her appearance. He had heard of the half-monster Mewmans before, but he had never actually come face to face with one. Though the biggest shock for him came from the fact that she was openly glaring at the boy, a sight he almost never saw, most people would be cowering in fear of him. And even stranger she somehow looked bored of him at the same time, an eyebrow slowly raising over the boy's sudden mood shift._

 _She turned to look at Star, who seemed equally confused at the boy's behavior, giving him a strange look. "Still think we can trust him?" Janna asked, sounding annoyed._

 _Star merely shrugged. "He's the only help you're going to get," the princess countered._

 _"And you didn't tell anyone else?" Janna pressed._

 _"No one else, I promise," Star said, putting a hand to her heart._

 _"Wait," Tom finally managed to squeak out (his voice surprisingly tight all of a sudden), his eyes darting between the two girl's wildly. "You- Your a- She's a-"_

 _"An Impure," Star supplied._

 _"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer?" Janna said in a mocking tone. Tom felt his cheeks flush, as the girl smirked at him, but not with anger... with something else._

 _"Yeah well I-"_

 _"Tom!" Star cut in, grabbing the boy's arm, before his temper could explode again. "Just help me get her unstuck, okay?"_

 _Tom looked at Star for a moment, before turning to give the creepy girl a suspicious glare, which she countered with a smirking smile._

 _"Come on!" Star pressed, pulling him over to the pinned girl. Though Tom seemed skeptical, the two went at it, trying desperately to lift the heavy object off the girl. The two grunted under the intense weight of the board, but eventually they were able to move it, finally releasing the girl from her trapped position. Janna grunted as she pulled her arm to safety, tenderly massaging the broken limb, blinking away the tears that filled her vision._

 _Tom and Star let the board drop harmlessly to the floor, panting as they tried to catch their breath. The three stayed like that for a moment, Tom keeping a suspicious eye on the half-monster girl. Eventually, she looked up at him, with that same smirking smile, her eyes practically shining with her hurt tears. Tom felt his heart thump in his chest once, before Star flew past him, pulling the creepy girl into a hug._

 _"Yay! Your free!" Little Star cheered, giggling with joy, as the other girl slowly pulled away from her, pushing her off with her good hand. But the young royal didn't even seem to notice, as she continued to cheer for their triumphant victory over the troublesome board._

 _Tom quickly recovered from his daze, glaring at the girl and watching her for any sudden movements. Janna seemed to notice his starring, as she looked over at the boy, matching his gaze. "What's the matter? Afraid I might bite?" she teased and Tom felt his anger boil._

 _Star's cheering immediately stopped, as she pulled away from the girl, looking between the two with concern._

 _"Yeah, maybe I am," Tom retorted, sounding annoyed. "I mean didn't you and your friends do this to this place?" he accused, pointing to the destroyed room around them._

 _Janna clicked her tongue disapprovingly, shaking her head. "As much as I'd love to take credit for this destruction, truth is, it was already like this when we got here."_

 _"Yeah right," Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes._

 _Janna shrugged, looking away. "Whatever, believe it or not. Doesn't make any difference to me."_

 _"Well I believe you," Star said, shooting the girl a cute grin, which Janna returned._

 _"Thanks," she said, her voice sounding almost chocked up as she allowed the girl to hug her once again._

 _"Your welcome," Star cheerfully responded._

 _Tom cleared his throat, drawing the two's attention, once again. He gave them a blank stare, his arms crossed. "So now what?"_

 _"What do you mean?" Star asked, tilting her head to the side, giving the boy a confused stare._

 _"I mean," he groaned in annoyance. "What do we do about her?" He pointed to the creepy girl._

 _"Well, we take her back to the castle, of course," Star responded, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world._

 _"Oh yeah, good idea," Tom said, sarcastically. "Why don't we just walk up to the gates and say 'Oh hello there, guards. Don't mind us, we're just bringing in some half-monster mutation that we found while we were out, in the middle of the night, without permission-'"_

 _"Well what do you think we should do?" Star retorted, putting her hands on her hips and shooting him a glare._

 _"Don't worry about it," Janna spoke up, the two turning to her with surprise. "I'm better off on my own, anyways. I'll just-"_

 _Janna went to stand, but Star grabbed her arm, pulling her back down. "No!" Star said, firmly. "Don't be stubborn. Your coming home with me." She tightened her grip a bit on the girl's arm, her eyes soft but persuasive and Janna went silent, taken aback by the girl's sudden change._

 _Tom let out a loud sigh. "So then what's your plan, princess?"_

 _Star thought for a moment, before her face brightened, an idea popping into her head. "Janna, we're going to need to tell one more person." Star slowly nodded her head, a smile lighting up her face. But it quickly switched to a glare, as she turned to the boy. "And don't call me, princess!"_

…

 _Jackie sat quietly on her bed, her head slowly bobbing up and down to the beat of her headphones, her face peaceful and relaxed, as she closed her eyes and lost herself in the hypnotizing melody. She heard a soft knock and quickly sat up, pulling the headphones off her ears and letting them slip around her neck._

 _"Who is it?" Jackie called._

 _"Star," a voice whispered, through the soft wood._

 _Jackie hopped off her bed, walking over to the door, cracking it open a bit. She smiled seeing the face of her young caretaker, waving to her from the other side of the door. "Hey Star," the skater greeted, leaning against the doorframe. "What are you doing up this late?"_

 _Star gave her a sheepish grin. "Uhhhh, haha, funny story," Star began, sounding extremely guilty and Jackie gave her a strange look. "I need your help with something."_

 _"Uhhh, s-sure," Jackie hesitantly said, still put-off by Star's bizarre behavior. "Whatever you need Star."_

 _"Great," Star said, going to push the door open wider, but she hesitated. "Oh, and don't freak out."_

 _Jackie was about to ask what she meant by that, but Star threw the door open, skipping inside. "Okay, Tom, bring her in!" she called down the hall._

 _Jackie's mouth dropped open at the sight of Tom carrying a half-monster girl, who looked uninterested as she was brought into the light-haired girl's room. Tom carried her over to the bed, setting her down as gently as he could. "Thanks for the ride," Janna teased and Tom tried to hold back another blush._

 _"Whatever," he murmured, trying to look as angry as possible._

 _"Awww, did I strike a nerve?" Janna taunted and Tom growled, his cheek flames simmering._

 _"No!" Tom looked away, crossing his arms._

 _Janna shrugged, before rising off the bed and onto her feet. "Hey wait a minute!" Tom yelled, realization finally dawning on him. "Why did I carry you all the way here?!"_

 _"I don't know," Janna nonchalantly said. "I mean my arm was broken, not my legs."_

 _"Why didn't you say anything?!"_

 _"You didn't ask me. Plus, it was pretty nice getting to be carried around."_

 _Tom just groaned, his eyes narrowing._

 _"Ummm, Star," Jackie began, backing away from the two intruders standing in the middle of her room. "Who is that?!"_

 _"That's Janna," Star explained. "She's half-monster."_

 _"Half-monster?!" Jackie's voice quivered slightly, as she shot Star a questioning gaze._

 _"Yeah we found her in a burned down village."_

 _"Well, what is she doing here?" Jackie asked._

 _"She needs a place to stay."_

 _"Yes, but why here?" Jackie stated again, pointing to the floor._

 _"Because your the only one I trust with this," Star whined, clapping her hands together and giving her a begging look. "Please, please, please." Jackie tried to hold out, this whole thing seemed like a really bad idea, but she found Star's begging impossible to fight against, as the little royal's lip quivered and finally she felt the last of her resolve cave as she sighed in defeat. "Okay fine," she whispered. Before quickly adding, "But only for a few days."_

 _"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Star screamed, jumping up and down with joy and both Tom and Janna shushed her. She gave them both sheepish grins. "Sorry," she apologized, before turning back to her frazzled friend, already slowly backing off toward the door. "Soooo, we'll leave you alone and let you two get settled, okay. Come on, Tom."_

 _Tom, giving the frustrating girl one last glare, turned and followed after his friend. Star waited until Tom passed her, before turning back to the two girls, shooting Jackie another sheepish smile, as she slowly closed the door shut. "I'm sorry, don't hate me, byeeeeee."_

 _With that the door closed, leaving the two girls alone. They turned to each other, a silent tension slowly filling the room, Jackie unsure what to do or say to the bizarre-looking girl in front of her. "Sooo, uhh," Jackie started, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You... from around here?"_

 _"I don't want to talk about it," Janna said, her voice a cold monotone._

 _"Oh, okay," Jackie muttered._

 _Janna sat back down on the bed, Jackie hesitantly doing the same. The two were now facing away from each other, looking at the floor. The room remained silent as the two tried to come up with something to say. Jackie wished she knew what to say to her temporary roommate, but her mind was drawing a blank. What was she supposed to do? Star had just sprung this on her last minute and-_

 _"Love Sentence."_

 _Jackie looked over to the girl with surprise. "What?" she asked in confusion._

 _"Your headphones," Janna said, pointing to the device still draped around the girl's neck. "It's playing a Love Sentence song. 'Too Little Too Late'."_

 _"Yeah, how did you know that?" Jackie asked, surprised._

 _"It's one of my favorites," the girl replied, a light smile on her face._

 _Jackie's face slowly switched to a smile. "Yeah, me too." The two girl's just smiled at each for a moment. Eventually, Janna went to stand and Jackie quickly called out to her, stopping her in her tracks. "I have more of their songs, if you'd like to hear them."_

 _"Sure," Janna said, with a shrug, settling back down on the bed._

 _Jackie slowly lifted the headphones off her neck and handed them to the girl. The two spent the rest of the night listening to Love Sentence songs and talking, getting to know one another, as a friendship slowly began to form between the two._

 _..._

"After that, Star was able to get her hands on some pills that could disguise Janna's monster form and we reintroduced her as an orphan who had lost her parents during the attack," Jackie finished. "We've been friends ever since."

"Wowww," Marco breathed, still trying to wrap his mind around the incredible story. "But wait, how come Janna's stuck looking like this now?" He gestured to the girl, who at some point during the story transformed out of her bat form and back to her monster one.

"She ran out," Jackie said with a shrug. "Star went to go get more."

Marco nodded in understanding, before looking over to the creepy girl. She had stayed uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole story, her eyes glazed over with some unknown memory, her face totally unreadable and Marco couldn't help but feel concerned for the girl.

"Did you... ever want to go back?" Marco asked and Janna finally looked up, a look of surprise on her startled features.

"Back?" she asked, her voice softer than usual and completely lacking its normally cryptic tone.

"To where you're from," Marco explained. "Back to your family."

Janna chuckled dryly, shaking her head. "Not even once," she said in a hard tone. "I've been having way too much fun right here."

"Come on, Jan," Jackie said in a semi-scolding tone. "Tell him the truth."

Janna gave her roommate a blank stare, before turning back to the boy. "Fine," she muttered, closing her eyes. "I don't know where it is. I always traveled with a group of people, but when I got separated from them I realized I didn't know the way back, okay." She looked away from the boy, before mumbling, "Talk about poor planning."

"I'm sorry," Marco apologized, his whole face the picture of sadness.

Janna gave him a long look, before finally scoffing, though it sounded empty to the boy. "Not exactly your fault," she whispered, giving what was supposed to be a careless shrug.

"No, I mean I know what its like to lose your home." Marco said, looking down. "Your family."

Both Jackie and Janna looked at him in shock. "I thought you didn't remember your parents?" Jackie questioned.

Marco looked up at the skater girl. "No not-"

"Jannnnnaaaa!" a voice called outside of the room, interrupting the boy's explanation and drawing everyone's attention to the closed door. Star walked in, holding up a new bottle of pills in her hands, a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm back. Sorry it took so long I-"

Star's voice cut off as she took in the sight in front of her, startled to see Marco, sitting on Janna's bed, giving her a blank stare, not at all taken aback by the half-monster girl in front of him. "M-Marco?!" Star's voice squeaked, unknowingly dropping the pill bottle.

"Hey careful," Janna said, getting off the bed and retrieving the bottle off the floor. "I need these."

"What is Marco doing here?!" Star screamed, forgetting to keep her voice down, Jackie, Janna, and even Marco shushing her.

"He came in earlier," Jackie explained. "And saw Janna."

"And then he fainted," Janna added, matter-of-factly.

"Does," Star started, before lowering her voice. "Does he know about... y'know?"

"We told him everything," Jackie reassured.

"Everything?" Star questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Everything," Janna said, opening the pill bottle and popping a couple pills onto the end of her tongue, immediately swallowing them down.

"Oh," Star hesitantly said, looking over to the boy. He didn't seem panicked or anything. In fact he seemed perfectly relaxed, sitting there on the bed. She had been afraid if Marco had known, he might have relapsed, reminded of his past encounters with the monsters. She walked over to him, sitting down on the bed. "Soooo, you okay?" she asked in concern.

"A little confused, but otherwise I'm fine," Marco answered with a shrug, a tiny little grin on his face.

"And you don't have any other questions or anything?" Star pressed, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the boy.

Marco shook his head. "No. I just need a little time to process all this."

Star let out a sigh of relief. "Well that's good," she said, the smile returning to her face, before switching to a much more serious expression. "But you know you can't tell anyone else about this, right?" She asked slowly, her blue eyes studying his face.

"Of course," the boy replied, nodding his head, giving the girl the most serious face he could. "I won't tell, I promise." His voice was commanding and strong as he looked up at the beanie-wearing girl with a look of pure determination. "Janna you can count on me."

The three remained silent for a moment, before they all let out a long _awww_ , giggling as they trapped the boy in an unsuspecting hug. Marco looked quite confused as he found himself surrounded in, not one, but three girl's warmth, his face blushing beet red, his body stiff and unsure how to get out of this bizarre situation.

"You are so sweet, Marco," Jackie cooed.

"Isn't he adorable?" Star sighed lovingly, squeezing him just a little bit tighter, the other two girls sharing a quick glance.

"Especially when he's blushing," Janna agreed, giving the boy a knowing glance, wagging an eyebrow at him that somehow made him blush even worse.

The three stayed like that for a while, giggling and cooing over how cute the boy was, Marco just frozen between his friends, unsure how to react, his cheeks pooling with so much blood he was afraid he would lose consciousness again. Until finally, the girls showed mercy and pulled away from him, the boy satisfied that he could breath normally once again. The three continued to chuckle, though, over his blush, all of them coming to agree (much to the hooded boy's dismay) that he was cutest when he was blushing, the boy averting his eyes from all of them.

Eventually, the girl's ceased their teasing and Star suggested they all go to bed, which everyone eagerly agreed to. It had been a long night full of shocking reveals and everyone was ready to get some much needed sleep, especially Marco, who still needed some time to let all this sink in.

"You sure you don't want me to walk you back?" Star asked the boy, as he got ready to leave for his room.

"I'm sure," Marco said, a smile on his face.

Star looked thrown off guard by the boy's response, but nodded, allowing the boy to head off down the hallway alone, giving him one last wave goodbye for the night.

She frowned, hoping her bestie really was okay. "He's fine," Janna said, seeing the distressed look on her friend's face.

Star didn't even turn around to look at her, as she watched the hooded boy continue on down the hall. "You sure," Star asked softly.

"Jan's right," Jackie agreed, before her face took on a thoughtful expression. "Wow, I never thought I'd ever say that." She shook her head, clearing her thoughts once more. "Just give him a little time. It's a lot to take in at once."

Star nodded. "I hope you're right." Unable to quite shake the feeling that all was not quite right with the boy. When he had left, something had seemed... off.

...

Marco walked slowly back towards his room, deep in thought. It wasn't about the new startling revelation about Janna, no, that honestly made a little too much sense. It was the way the others had talked about the monsters and Impures. All through the story, Jackie had made it pretty clear that monsters were feared by the other Mewmans, even Star. And that even being half-monster made you an outcast and put you at risk.

But why? What had the monsters done that was so bad that even Impures were suffering? Marco found himself thinking about Buff Frog's words the night he had helped him escape, he had said that the monsters had done terrible things, things that Marco might grow to hate them over. But what was that? What could they have done that was so horrible?

He honestly couldn't imagine the monsters doing anything that bad. Then again, Toffee was the leader of the monsters. Did it really seem that far-fetched that he would have bad intentions toward the Mewmans? And he knew all to well how easily Toffee could incite fear into you, how easy it was for him to control you.

As Marco continued on down the hallway, his thoughts replayed many memories, trying desperately to put the pieces together: times he had spent among the monsters, being left behind by them as if they were afraid to let him know what they were really doing, his terrifying encounter with Toffee, Buff Frog's escape, and finally his time on Mewni. It seemed like there were so many clues, but Marco couldn't put all the pieces together. He didn't know how they fit just yet.

But one thing was for sure, he couldn't tell anyone... not even Star. If being part monster put your life at risk, Marco had no clue what they would do to a boy raised by their leader. For now, he needed to keep this to himself, until he figured out the whole story. Marco sighed, feeling his whole body growing heavier with the new burden. He may have been able to keep Janna's secret safe, but there was no one he could share his own secrets with.

Marco was completely on his own.

 **Finally done! So turns out writing serious Janna is extremely difficult to do, because part of her charm is the face that she doesn't care about anything (or at least pretends too) so when I had to make her care about something, it kept feeling off to me. I had to find a balance between the two and I hoped I actually reached it okay. But hey, I like how it turned out and I hope you all did too. Also for the record Janna's backstory was something I came up with long before season 3, just thought it'd throw that out there. Also I hope the title wasn't super misleading, I had a feeling everyone suspected it was going to be about Marco's secret, not Janna's. And it kinda was in a way, just not the reveal.**

 **So once again I just want to thank you all for 100 followers! It just makes me feel so amazing to know so many people care about my story and it makes me strive to give you all the best stories I can! I'm looking forward to another great year with you all!**

 **Dex Cipher- Haha yeah I loved that line too! Honestly, other than Marco, Janna is my favorite character to write for. She's just so sarcastic, I love her! Hope you like her in this one as well. Also, hahaha puns! I adore puns and "cheesy" love stories. I'm such a dork!**

 **S.t.a.r.c. .131313- Awww I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much! Starco is so amazing!**

 **A unimpressive name- Thanks, I'm glad you liked the fluff. I think we could all use more fluff in our lives.**

 **Gamelover41592- Oh it is definitely going places *slowly nods her head* Wait where is it going? Ha ha sorry, Just kidding ;) I hope you continue to enjoy.**

 **SJMT shipper- AWWWWW *W* Thank you so much! You are so amazing! It's so sweet to hear you enjoy my story so much. So sorry to hear that FG got sick (I know she's doing better now, but still) and that it wouldn't let her comment on the last chapter! I don't know why it did that! *sighs* I hope that doesn't become a problem in the future.**

 **Wow, your friends name is complicated... I love it! Yeah mine is just a ship name I came up with for one of my favorite ships in a show I love. Also so glad you enjoyed the fluff, a lot people really seemed to. And yeah, Janna is such the prankster. I could see her doing that to someone.**

 **Also, I don't know if you noticed but I put just a little bit of Jantom in the new chapter... so I hope you enjoyed that!**

 **Christopherprime22- Oh hey, so glad you liked the fluff! I needed a simpler chapter and I thought this would be the perfect time for one. Star and Marco are tooo cute and I can't resist making them as adorable as possible.**

 **Good to hear things are doing better for you, I hate stressful weeks but they make me appreciate the calmer ones all the more, and I'm glad you like the songs! I had a feeling you would! :) As for your suggestions, I actually had never heard "Feel Again" until you suggested it and now that I have... awwww, yes! It does fit my Star so perfectly and how great Marco is for her, thank you so much for suggesting it! As for "Boop" I have heard this one before! And I'm so glad you love RWBY, too, I love you even more now! RWBY is my second favorite show of all time (Guess which ones the first). In fact, my name thDorkMagnet was my own fan-made ship name for JaunexPyrrha. (Dork for Jaune because that's what he is and Magnet because of her Semblance) I actually considered suggesting "Dream Come True" to you a couple of times, but looking back on it this one fits their relationship so much more! I love Nora (or Star) struggling with telling him or even if she is sure how she feels. My favorite part is by far the part where she rambles XD I smiled like a dork picturing Star singing that part. Also Star needs to boop Marco, at least once.**

 **So now for my suggestion, so mine is actually from the Disney Channel movie "Descendents" and it's called "If Only". Now I'm not sure if you've seen this movie or not, but it's fine if you haven't. I only watched it because I came across this song. It's a bit of a cheeseball to be honest, but when I heard this song I was mesmerized and I instantly thought of Star back when she was struggling with telling Marco her feelings. I always picture her singing this in her room, having kind of an inner debate, battling with herself on whether she tells him or not. It's still the best part of the whole movie and totally worth checking out.**

 **Well that does it for me, hope you had a great holiday! There's really only one last thing to say: HAPPY NEW YEAR! *throws confetti into the air***

 **bookworm-reader- Hi new friend! (waves enthusiastically) So good to finally meet my clone... or at least a person who is a lot like me hehe X D , SJMT has said a lot of good things about you! I'm glad you have been enjoying the story so far, even the darker parts, because I have a bit of a dark side as well. *smiles evilly while rubbing her hands together* I try to keep it at a pretty good balance of cute and funny, but also dramatic, and I'm glad to see it's paying off well.**

 **Yes, they are unique, but to be honest I had trouble telling them apart when they first started reviewing, they were just so similar in so many ways I almost thought they were the same person!**

 **I'm glad you like Janna, she is one of my favorites and I try to put her in as many moments as I can. And oh, what were Star and Marco doing? Ummmm *nervously looks around* s-she tripped, okay. She just tripped. Nothing more. Hehehaaaa Anywho, I guess I'm gonna let you go now, it was so nice to meet you and yeah it would be nice to meet for real someday, who knows what the future holds? So bye new friend, as is tradition I will leave you with hugs. *HUGS!***

 **Also, thanks for the hugs SJMT!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	11. A Sea of Strangers

Chapter 10: A Sea of Strangers

 **Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great two weeks, I've been as busy as ever trying to get this one out to you on time. And I actually pulled it off! YAY! Well not much more to say I'll just let you have at it and I'll see you at the bottom. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

Marco blinked, taking in the faces of what seemed like hundreds of strangers gathered around him, talking and laughing, reminiscing about times they had shared. The hooded boy was confused to say the least, unsure how the normally empty castle grounds had become such a crowded mess, the gates wide open and the guards standing at attention, allowing the guests to pass inside. He had no idea why all these people were here or for what reason, but it seemed like he was the only one. The boy looked around him nervously, feeling surprisingly left out from the group as he realized he was the stranger in the crowd.

He lowered his head, turning to head back inside, but felt a finger run up his spine and he released an unmanly scream, drawing a few skeptic stares from the crowd. He turned on his heels only to look into the smug face of his half-monster friend. "Janna!" Marco squeaked in anger.

Janna laughed at the boy's gullibility, the few watchers turning back to their own conversations. The girl had returned to her normal, Mewman state, the pills from the night before having already taken effect. "Someone's on edge today," Janna finally said, having ceased her laughter. "Did last night scare you more than you let on?"

Marco's face went pale at the mention of the event and Janna chuckled again. "Relax, Marco. No one's paying any attention to us. Too busy with their own thing." She gestured to the other Mewmans around them.

"Right," Marco sheepishly responded, still feeling uncomfortable. Though he felt much better after a good nights sleep, concern for his and Janna's secret to become exposed and the unknown truth about the monster's true intentions were making him feel slightly ill at ease. He looked around at all the unfamiliar faces that scattered the courtyard. "Umm, who are all these people?"

"Remember how we told you there were other orphans that Star took in?" Janna explained and Marco turned back to her at once.

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "Are these them?"

"Yep," Janna replied, putting an arm around his shoulder. "Though I suspect some of them are phonies."

"Phonies?" Now Marco was really confused.

"A bunch of stuck-up know-it-all's who are just trying to get on the princess' good side. There's always a few of them every year."

"Yeah okay but," Marco began, before lowering his voice, cupping a hand over his mouth to prevent anyone else from hearing. "What are they doing here?"

"They're here for the ball," Janna shrugged.

"Ball?"

"You know dresses, dancing, that kind of thing. Star's been throwing one every year for a while now. She said it's her way of staying in touch with everyone since most of them are busy with their own lives."

"Wow," Marco breathed, taken aback by Star's kind ways once again. "That is so nice of her."

"Well yeah," Janna huffed. "She considers all of us practically family."

"Family," Marco quietly repeated the last word, his heart warming at the mere thought of such a thing, even Janna smiling from behind the boy's back. Then, without warning, the beanie-wearing girl gave Marco a push, propelling him into the crowd and making him stumble.

"So don't just stand here like some loser, get out there and mingle!" she shouted after him.

He turned to ask her how he was supposed to do that, only to see she had already disappeared into the crowd. He huffed. "How does she do that?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head, before nervously turning back to the sea of strangers in front of him. He looked around for any signs of Star or Jackie, but saw no familiarity in the Mewmans that surrounded him, a bizarre feeling of loneliness somehow seizing him there in the crowd. But he took a deep breath, pushing the uncomfortable feeling aside, steeling his nerve as he pushed off into the crowd.

…

Marco wandered aimlessly for a while, lingering often by small groups of people, but found himself frozen, unable to think of anything to say until the group would become put-off by his awkward gawking and walk away leaving him along again. He sighed, his embarrassment growing with every knew encounter, keeping his head down as he tried to get though the crowd without drawing anymore unwanted attention on himself. He finally slowed as he made it to what seemed to be the refreshments table, a delicious selection of snacks laid out and in easy grasp of the chatty Mewmans. Marco felt his stomach growl and decided it wouldn't hurt to grab a quick bite to eat.

He reached for a plate only to bump into a second hand, which had also been reaching for the plate. He looked up to see a Mewman boy in front of him. He was quite chubby, this was the first thing Marco noticed, the black t-shirt and gray shorts he was wearing looking almost a size too small. He had short orange hair and green eyes, his face littered with freckles like Jackie, but unlike his skater friend this boy had cheek marks. They were duel smiley faces looking messy and smudged, Marco almost mistaking them for being drawn on if weren't for the fact they were glowing slightly.

"Oh, sorry," Marco finally said, pulling his hand away and giving him a sheepish grin. "I-I didn't see you there."

"No problem, man," the chubby boy responded, picking up the plate and beginning to make his stockpile of food. "It's cool."

Marco felt an awkward tension build as he tried to think of something more to say. "Soooo are you an orphan, too?" her nervously tried and the other boy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he simply responded and Marco felt his cheeks flush.

"O-Oh, cool," he finally muttered, sweat running down his brow. He quickly realized what he had just said, quickly adding, "I-I mean, not cool. 'Cause y'know being an orphan and all. Not that there's anything wrong with being an orphan, I mean I am too, but still I-"

Marco's panicked rant was halted as the new boy stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth. "Dude, relax," he simply said, before returning to his food.

Marco said nothing, removing the bread from his mouth and staring at the boy in front of him. "So you got a name?" the chubby boy finally asked, ignoring the boy's awkward staring.

"Uhhhh," Marco stammered thrown off guard by the question. "M-Marco," he finally squeaked, inwardly groaning with embarrassment. He coughed, trying to clear his tight throat, tenderly holding out a hand to shake. "My name's Marco." The other boy set down his plate and shook the hand of the nerve-wracked Mewman in front of him. "What's yours?" Marco finally asked, making the other smile mischievously.

"Well Marco I go by many names but you can call me _King Fergore of Pixtopia_!" he shouted loudly, striking a dramatic pose, his index finger coming inches from Marco's face, the startled boy blinking awkwardly unsure what to say next.

"You can just call him Ferg for short," a nasally voice called behind them, Marco turning to see another boy. This one was much taller then Ferguson was, taller than Marco in fact. He wore thick, wire-frame glasses, a blue and white striped t-shirt and brown shorts. On top was a mop of messy brown hair. Marco also took note that this boy lacked any cheek marks, meaning he must have been human like Jackie. "His real name is Ferguson anyways," the human boy added.

"Alfonso," the chubby boy whined, lowering his arms. "Why'd you tell him that! I'm trying to change my name, remember?"

"Sorry, but that's never gonna catch on, Ferg," Alfonso countered. "I mean it even sounds fake."

"It does not!" Ferg exclaimed.

" _Fergore_ sounds like a real name," Al pressed, raising an eyebrow.

Ferguson crossed his arms looking depressed. "Well it could work if anyone ever listened to me," he mumbled under his breath, flicking a tiny crumb off the table, his eyes downcast.

"I kinda like it," Marco offered and Ferguson's face immediately brightened, giving his nerdy friend a smug smile.

"See, Oh-ye-of-little-faith, my friend Mango here likes my name," he taunted his friend.

"It's Marco," Marco pointed out and Ferguson quickly brushed it off.

"Whatever," he said, stuffing another piece of bread into Marco's face. "The point is I'm right and my so-called royal advisor is wrong."

"Wait so you're really a king?" Marco questioned in shock, inbetween bites of his food.

"Yep, he's king of all of Pixtopia," Al explained, Ferguson looking quite pleased by the praise.

"But he's not a Pixie," Marco pointed out, looking over the seemingly ordinary boy quizzically.

"Uh, king by marriage," Ferg explained, rolling his eyes. "The queen couldn't get enough of this," he smugly added, gesturing to himself and Marco gave him an awkward smile.

"I'mmmm sure," he hesitantly answered, not sounding sure at all.

"Star introduced us a couple of years back," Ferguson continued, ignoring the boy completely. "And it was love at first site."

"Actually, Ferg, didn't she try to eat you when you first met?" Al pointed out.

"Okay well there was a rough patch there at the beginning, but she came around. Y'know eventually."

Marco went silent, unknowingly tuning the boy out, his thoughts jumping to that of Star. He looked into the crowd, trying to spot a flash of that beautiful golden hair but saw nothing. "So what about you, Marco?"

Marco turned back to the boy in shock. "Huh?"

"What's your story?" Ferg asked again. "How'd you end up here?"

"Yeah, we've never seen you before so you must be pretty new," Al added.

"Oh I uh..." Marco's eyes darted around nervously, trying to think of a good lie, fear clenching his chest. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell them the truth, that could be dangerous. But he couldn't say nothing. He couldn't come across as being suspicious, though from the quizzical looks the two Mewmans were giving him he had already failed at that task. He bit his lip, really wishing that now hadn't been the time when his brain had stopped functioning altogether.

"That's okay."

Marco blinked once, almost unable to believe what he had heard. "W-What?" he squeaked, his voice tight.

"Look we get it," Ferg gave him a comforting smile, his eyes looking surprisingly pain-filled, his companion's face in the same troubled state. "We've all been there. Don't force it, okay. If you don't want to talk about it, you shouldn't have to."

Marco didn't know what they meant by that, but he nodded, deciding it best to let the subject drop. "Thanks," he said, shooting them both tight smiles, which they returned.

Al coughed, breaking the tension in the room as he turned to the heavy crowd of people. "So, did you find Star yet, Ferg? Or have you just been snacking on orderves this whole time. "

"Of course not," Ferg retorted. "Besides, like I told you before, if she were here we would know it."

"Why do you say that?" Marco asked.

"Because our eardrums would be bombarded by a screaming crowd of people, all desperate for the princess's attention."

As if on cue, a person screamed from the crowd, "Look everyone, it's Princess Star!" The whole crowd erupted in a roar, as everyone rushed to the gates of the castle, desperate to speak to their precious royal heir. Marco's eyes jumped to the gates of the castle, where an almost mob-like state had broken out, his eyes searching the crowd for his friend.

"See I told you," Ferg smugly said to his nerdy friend, but Marco barely heard him, too entranced on the girl who slowly walked through the crowd, which parted to let her pass, smiling and waving to everyone she crossed, happily chatting to her long-time friends, Jackie walking quietly behind her. She looked so regal and magical and Marco felt his heart skip a beat as somehow her wandering eyes found him in the crowd, brown meeting blue, a light smile gracing her lips. She softly waved over to him and Marco returned the gesture, accidentally knocking the punch out of Ferg's hands and right into Al's face. Marco's eyes went wide, as he rushed over to help the two, shouting his apologizes as he did.

Star chuckled lightly at the boy's klutziness, tucking a stray stand of hair behind her ears. Some things never changed. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Jackie, chuckling and shaking her head. Clearly she had spotted the boy, too. The two shared a quick laugh, before Star turned back to her waiting public, walking confidently forward, as he mingled with the people she practically considered family.

"Hey, Star I missed you!" someone from the crowd yelled.

"I missed you, too!" she shouted, shooting them a wink.

"Star, I baked you a pie!"

"Star, I ate the pie!"

"I knew you would!" Star exclaimed, giving the two a high five.

"Star, I want you to sign my cast!"

"Sure Sabrina let me just..." Star reached into her cloud purse looking for a pen.

"Star, show us your wand! I bet it's really cool!" Someone from the crowd interrupted.

"I bet Star could destroy the entire monster army all by herself!"

"Yeah, I bet she could kill Toffee!"

"No way, Star's too sweet to do anything like that!"

"Yeah, she's too precious to risk her life!"

"Star Butterfly RULES!"

Star put a hand to her blushing cheeks, not used to all this attention, well... not from them anyways. "Aww, thanks! You are all too sweet!" she thanked, a bright smile on her face.

Jackie watched the princess a short distance away, having gotten separated from her in the surrounding chaos. It was good to see Star so happy, her giddiness almost contagious, even a short distance away. She looked over to Marco, who also seemed pretty happy, talking with Ferguson and Alfonso, the three boys snacking away on the tasty treats. Though Jackie quickly noticed Marco's shifting gaze, his eyes shimmering as he continually glanced over to the blond royal.

"Well look at that," a familiar voice stated, as Janna appeared behind the girl holding a glass of punch. "Looks like I'm close to winning the bet."

"What?" Jackie questioned, raising an eyebrow at her friend and crossing her arms. "No you're not."

"Oh come on, Jacks," Janna said, with a smirk, taking a long sip of her punch before continuing. "Those two can't keep their eyes off of each other and the dance is tonight and I think we both know who Star's gonna pick to dance with her."

Jackie rolled her eyes, but the smile never left her lips. "That doesn't mean they're gonna start dating. Remember, that was a part of the deal?"

"Details, details," Janna said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "I've already got it all figured out. All I have to do is-"

"Jan," Jackie started, her voice a scolding tone.

"I'm kidding, geez, can't you take a joke," Janna said with a smirk, putting an arm around her friend. "Truth is, I don't have to do a thing. It's smooth sailing from here on out."

"Careful you don't want to jinx yourself," Jackie teased.

"Aw come on," the dark-haired girl scoffed to her friend. "What could possibly ruin things now?"

Just then the courtyard was filled with an ear-bleeding loud screech that made everyone but Star cover their ears in pain. Marco, hands pressed as tightly against his ears as he could get them, shouted in panic, "What is that?! Is something dying?!"

Jackie and Janna, on the other hand, both shared a fearful look, both simultaneously muttering, "Uh oh," before turning to the source of the unbearable sound.

Another boy. He was an orphan just like them and he marched confidently forward holding and 'playing' his most prized possession, a keytar. He had long black hair, that covered both his eyes, cheek marks, which were dark green treble clefs, and fangs, Janna having almost forgotten that he had been so impressed by her style a few years back and decided to wear fake fangs like her, not aware that they were actually real. He wore a dark brown shirt, with a red bandana tied loosely around his neck and light brown pants that were ripped at the bottom, as well as purple boots. "Oh right, I forgot about Oskar," Janna said, face-palming at her mistake, Jackie just watching the scene unfolding with a grimace.

Star felt her heart pound as she watched her first crush walk toward her, still playing that beautiful music that she adored. She tried to hold in a sigh as he came face to face with her, his confident smile sending shivers down her spine. "H-Hi Oskar," she managed to squeak out, giving him a nervous wave. The boy stopped playing his beloved instrument (much to the relief of the crowd), brushing his long bangs out of the way, his bright eyes staring deep into Star's, reflecting her own image back at her.

"Hey Star," he confidently responded. "It's been a while."

"Yeah it has," Star nervously responded, her throat still unbearably tight. "I-I'm glad you could make it."

"You know I'd never miss out on one of your dances," he replied, shooting her a flirty grin and Star felt like she might melt.

"Wow, thanks," was all she could say, as a blush lit up her cheeks.

Marco watched the whole scene in silence, taking in the look on Star's face as her and the new boy chatted. They were too far away to be heard, but Marco's eyes were on Star and her blushing cheeks. Marco felt his stomach twist at the sight, but Marco had no idea why. Was it because she was blushing? Yes he figured it had to be, but he didn't know why that would upset him so much. Maybe because all the times he had seen Star blushing it was around him, no one else.

Marco swallowed down the lump in his throat as Star turned into a giggling mess over something the boy had said, surprised to find his hands were clenching into tight fists. Was he angry? No, not exactly. He was mad for sure, but there seemed to be more to it, a mixture of different emotions all rolled into one. He didn't know what this new feeling was, but he didn't like it and all he wanted was for it to go away.

"Don't get too upset," Marco heard Ferguson say behind him and he turned to the two he had almost forgotten were there. "She always gets like that around him," Ferguson continued, Alfonso nodding his head in agreement.

"Yeah, Star has a super big crush on him," the nerdy boy added.

"Crush?" Marco muttered to himself, unsure what the new word meant. "But who is he?" he asked louder to the two, his eyes unwantingly returning to his bestie and her 'crush'.

"That would be Oskar Greason," Ferg explained. "He's kinda a wannabe musician-"

"Well he _was_ until Star set him up to become the apprentice of Ruberiot, the Royal Songstrul," Al corrected.

"Right," Ferg continued, sounding slightly upset at the interruption. "Well anyways, he's been gone a while now, the two went on a tour through every known dimension, spreading the wonders of music or something like that across the galaxy." Ferg rolled his eyes, his voice as skeptical as could be. "Personally I think they were looking for someone who could listen to Oskar's 'music' without screaming in pain."

"That's not true, Ferguson," Al pointed out, adjusting his glasses. "Star actually likes his music."

Ferg scoffed. "Well she's the only one," he muttered, taking a long sip of his punch.

"Don't mind him," Al said to Marco, rolling his eyes at his fuming friend. "He's just upset because he's convinced Oskar's gonna steal _his_ dance with Star away."

"Oh come on, you know it's coming!" Ferg suddenly shouted. "Star only dances with one person every year and it's always been Oskar! Since, like, the very beginning."

"What?!" Marco squeaked in concern, his heart pounding away in his chest. "What do you mean?!"

"Don't worry too much about it, Marco," Al comforted. "Star hasn't seen Oskar in a while now, I honestly don't think she's that into him anymore, despite how it looks." The three all turned to the two, Oskar finally separating from Star, going deeper into the crowd, mingling with the others, Star just standing there shell-shocked. "She could pick anyone tonight. Who knows, maybe even you."

Marco said nothing as his gaze lingered on his bestie, that uncomfortable feeling finally releasing its hold on him as that old, familiar feeling returned, the feeling he always got from Star. She once again turned to him, looking like she was in a daze, but she smiled at him, giving him another short wave. Marco returned the wave, feeling his heart hammer away in his chest, his need to be near her stronger than it had ever been. He kept his eyes on Star as she jumped into another conversation with a couple of girls, whispering softly, "Yeah, maybe."

…

"But I don't even know how to dance," Marco stated as he sat uncomfortably in the chair in Jackie and Janna's room, watching the two girl's as they prepared everything they needed to get ready, fidgeting in his seat, his face a grimace. It was later that night, the ball now only a short time away and the two girls had unwillingly dragged the hooded boy to their room to get changed and ready, as they pulled out the supplies they had purchased a few days prior.

"You'll be fine Marco," Jackie praised, pulling down bag after bag from the top of her closet, Janna doing the same to her's.

"Yeah, and with your Trait you'll pick it up almost instantly, so you got nothing to worry about," Janna added.

"I guess," Marco muttered, still feeling nervous about the whole thing, his eyes slowly drifting to the floor. "But how do we know Star will even pick me?" he stated, his voice quivering slightly with nerves. "Ferguson and Alfonso said she only dances with one person every year and it's always Oscar." Marco's voice became uncharacteristically hard on the last word and Jackie and Janna shared a concerned look. If they didn't know any better they'd swear Marco sounded... jealous.

"Forget about Oskar," Jackie said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention to her, her eyes shining with cool radiance. "Tonight is just gonna be about you and Star," she stated and Marco felt his heart leap.

"Really?" Marco asked, his face hopeful and Jackie smiled at his cute, pleading eyes.

"Once we're done, Star won't be able to take her eyes off of you," she confidently replied and Marco's face widened into one of his signature smiles.

Janna suddenly appeared behind her friend holding up a finely made suit, flinging it at the boy. "Yep, so you better hurry up and get changed."

Marco nodded, rising out of his seat, holding his outfit as delicately as he could. "Okay." He started heading for the door, but Janna grabbed onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Uh, where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Uh, to my room to change," Marco hesitantly said, pointing to the door.

"Nope," Janna said, shaking her head, already starting to drag the boy deeper into her room, much to the boy's confusion.

"But how am I supposed to change if- AHH!" Suddenly, Marco was flung into the nearest closet, the door slamming shut behind him, trapping him in the small enclosed space. "J-Janna!" Why am I in your closet?"

"Your not, your in Jackie's," Janna called through the rough, wood frame. "Now hurry up and get changed. The ball's gonna start soon."

Marco, now frantic not to be late, obeyed, stripping off his prized hoodie and jeans in favor of the fancy suit. He emerged from the closet in a hurry, already heading for the door. "Okay, I'm changed now let's hurry and-"

The boy was halted once more, as Jackie blocked his path, holding up a comb in one hand and a bottle of hairspray in the other, a mischievous smile on her face. "Not so fast. First we have to get you ready."

"But I'm in the suit," Marco squeaked, gesturing to the finely-pressed tux.

"Yes," Jackie agreed, giving the boy a gentle push into the chair Janna had pulled out for him to land in. "But you're not quite there yet," she gave him a soothing smile, seeing the look of fear on his face, bending down so she was level with the boy. "Don't worry about a thing, Marco. Just stay still and let us take care of it." But her soothing tone switched to a much louder one as she sat up and called to her companion. "Ready Jan?!" Janna smirked in response, holding up several other supplies for the boy's transformation.

"Ready," she said, her voice as dramatic as her skater friend's. Marco gulped. The girl's flew into action, preparing the boy for his big night, straitening, fixing, combing, spraying, and making any other necessary adjustments to the boy's appearance, Marco just sitting frozen in a haze of hairspray. Finally the two seemed to have finished their work, the two stepping away and lowering their weapons of fashion, smiling in admiration at their work.

Jackie nodded confidently, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Nice," she said. "You look great, Marco."

"I do?" Marco asked and Jackie giggled.

"Yeah see for yourself," she said, pulling him to his feet and over to their large mirror. Marco was in shock by the image he saw, though it was his own face and body he now looked cleaner and more fancy then he had ever been, his hair spikes straightened to a fine point beneath the sombrero he hadn't even noticed the two had put on him, his twin suns glowing brighter then ever, and the finely made tux making him look dignified, the gold lining around its edges giving it a nice flair. The girls had even somehow gotten a red tie on him without noticing.

"Wow, is-is that me?" Marco breathed, putting a hand on his mirror image self.

"Yeah it is," Jackie said confidently.

"We do good work," Janna said, her and Jackie sharing a high five.

He turned back to the two with a gracious smile. "Thanks you two."

"Your welcome, Marco," Jackie said. "It was our pleasure."

"But," Janna said matter-of-factly, walking toward the boy. "Now it's our turn to get ready."

"So?" Marco asked, confused why the girl was getting so close to him, Janna grabbing him firmly by the shoulders, making him squeak.

The door to the room was flung open as Marco stumbled out, just barely stopping himself from running head-first into the wall. He turned back to the two girls in confusion asking, "Why do I have to go out?"

"Because you do," was all Jackie said, putting hands to her hips and shooting the boy a playful smirk. "Don't worry we won't be long," she continued before her roommate took over.

"And in the meantime-" Janna started.

"Don't mess up your hair-" Jackie warned, wagging a finger at the boy.

"Don't get your clothes dirty-" Janna added, her tone equally scolding.

"And above all, don't let Star or the others see you until we're ready," Jackie finished.

The two immediately relaxed, their scolding glares vanishing as they smiled at the boy. "Okay so just wait here we'll be out in a minute," Jackie said, shooting the startled boy a grin.

Then, just like that, the door closed leaving a frazzled Marco alone with his thoughts. "Are all girls like that or just the ones I know?" Marco asked the empty hallway, before shrugging and moving to sit on the floor.

"Don't even think about it!" Jackie's scolding voice called from the other side of the door, making Marco jump to his feet. He guiltily stared at the closed door, wondering how she had seen him do anything from another room, but he didn't dare question it as he went and found a nearby chair to sit in. He made sure to keep his hands in his lap, sitting up as straight as he could, being as careful as possible so as to not to disturb his new outfit. The seconds ticked away in the dark hallway, Marco growing more and more impatient with every passing second, the ticking of a nearby clock doing nothing to settle his nervous energy. And as the seconds dragged into minutes, Marco grew more and more concerned that they would be late for the ball, his finger tapping his knee impatiently. What time was it anyways? Marco felt a pang of fear as he realized he didn't know what time the ball actually started.

Finally, the little patience he had wore thin, as he rose out of his chair and over to the closed door. "Jackie. Janna?" Marco whispered softly, moving to put his ear against the door. "Are you two almost-"

Marco was interrupted, though, as the door opened, Jackie and Janna emerging from their room, now wearing their fancy ballgowns, making the boy stumble back in surprise. But Marco recovered quickly, his mouth dropping open at the sight of the two well-dressed young ladies. Jackie was wearing a sea-foam green dress that flowed all the way to the floor looking almost like waves, her counterpart wearing a sleeveless black dress that went down to just above her knees and a bright blue jacket, switching her brown boots out for a blue pair that matched her jacket. Though the two looked breathtaking in the new outfits, Marco saw signs of familiarity on them, Jackie still wearing the seashell necklace and Janna refusing to take off her brown beanie, though her hair had been fixed up for the ball.

"Wowww," he breathed. "You two look amazing!"

"Aww, thanks Marco," Jackie said with a smile.

"You clean up pretty nice yourself," Janna said, shooting the boy a wink.

Marco gave his friend a confused look. "But you two were the ones who-"

"Just... take the compliment," Janna sighed. "I don't give those out freely, y'know."

Marco looked over to Jackie for help and she just shrugged. "I'd just enjoy 'Nice Janna' while she lasts," Jackie suggested and Marco nodded in agreement. Janna didn't seem troubled by the statement as the trio started for the ball, walking side by side down the dark hallway.

"I prefer the term 'Normal Janna'," Janna said matter-of-factly.

"Normal?" Jackie teased, shooting her friend a look.

"Okay, okay, less creepy," she reasoned and Marco laughed at the two. "Oh and that reminds me," Janna exclaimed, snapping her fingers in remembrance, reaching into her purse and handing the boy a mask.

"What's this?" Marco questioned, turning the colorful object in his hands, examining it closer. It was white and just like his suit was embroidered with designs, making it resemble a skull.

"Uhh, it's a mask, duh," Janna lightly smirked, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

"What do I need this for?" Marco asked the beanie-wearing girl.

"It'll give you an air of mystery," Janna said, doing a wide, jazz hand flourish to emphasize her point.

"How do you figure that one, Jan?" Jackie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Think about it, Jacks, most of the people who are gonna be at the ball don't even know who Marco is, meaning that'll leave them guessing who could be swooping their princess off her feet."

"And that's a good thing?" Marco innocently asked, still examining the object.

"Yeah it is," Janna exclaimed. "Trust me, girls like a little mystery."

"But won't it be harder for her to recognize him?" Jackie pointed out.

"Are you kidding? Star could spot our dear Marco halfway across Mewni."

The two turned to Marco, who was having trouble putting the mask on, somehow tying his hands together with the string, shaking his arms in panic and the two smiled. "Good point," Jackie said, before reaching over to untie the boy.

"Where did you find this, Janna?" Marco asked, as the skater undid the troublesome knot.

Janna waved a nonchalant hand in the air. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answer too."

Marco's eyes widened and Jackie turned to her friend with a suspicious glare. "Jan-"

"What?" she shrugged, shooting her friend an innocent grin, well what was supposed to be one anyways. "I just found it lying around-"

"Uh huh," Jackie started, raising an eyebrow.

"On someone's face," she finished, giving the two a smirking grin.

"You stole it off of someone's face!" Jackie screamed.

"Yeah, I know I was impressed, too," Janna confidently responded, looking quite pleased with her charade. "He never even noticed it was gone."

Jackie, finished untying the object from around Marco's wrist, moved closer to her roommate. "That's not what I meant!"

"Relax, he didn't want it anyways. It didn't have enough eye holes."

"Eye holes? Wait did you steal it from Tom?!"

"Maaayyyybe?"

"Janna!"

Marco smiled at his two arguing friends, looking down at the mask again. He took a deep breath in, still feeling slightly jittery at the idea of dancing with Star, but he couldn't back down now. He wanted this. He knew he did, the familiar, warm feeling filled his every being as his grip tightened on the small mask. He could do this. He just had to go with the flow. Whatever happened tonight, he had to be ready. With that, Marco slipped the mask over his face, completing his disguise.

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll be honest I just needed to set things up for the next one and since the next one is _long_ I knew I had to split it up into two. The next one is huge too, so much is going to happen, so I had to hype it up a little. Still I think this one turned out good and I hope you liked my introduction of a few new faces, Ferguson, Alfonso, and Oskar. To be honest I was a little afraid I didn't do great with the first two because they're not really high on my list of favorite characters. They're fine and all but I just prefer the other characters more. But I know they have their fans so I did try to do them justice but I'm not used to writing for them so let me know if I did okay or not. As for Oskar I did enjoy his part, even if I did make Marco just a tiny bit jealous and Star still crushing on him. I wonder if who she's going to pick? Hmmmm. **

**Gamelover41592- Thanks! :) I'm glad you liked it and yeah I wanted Janna to be different in my story, so I thought that would be the best and most creative thing I could do for her. But man this chapter was perfect timing.**

 **SugarQueen97- Aww thank you! :) I worked really hard on this one cause I wanted it to sound as good as possible and yeah the hug was the one thing I knew I had to put in there because Marco getting a group hug from his three friends was too cute to resist. It was actually in the notes for this chapter that that needed to happen. But, ha ha, yeah I took precaution to make sure it didn't sound like they were all crushing on him now or anything. And I'm glad to know Janna sounded good in this one, she really is too much fun to write for. And wait, what Jantom? *nervously looks around* I didn't see any Jantom? Haha just kidding. ;)Yeah I adore those two, so I had to put a little in there. There might even be more in the future. Who knows? Don't worry you're comment sounds fine!**

 **SuicideGuy- Yeah I know! Janna has a pretty complex and insightful background, huh. He he well I'm glad you did enjoy. Don't worry I'm never done giving out Starco! My need is almost as strong as yours. This chapter doesn't have as much but I can promise the next one will be packed down with it. Or at least have a lot. So there's that. Honestly I can see it not being your favorite. Everyone has there opinions, I honestly didn't mind it too much, but I do admit a chapter featuring actually Star and Marco would have been a lot nicer. As for a kiss from Star, welllll, it will happen I'm just not promising on the length till. It's all a part of my master plan. I swear! Cya soon!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	12. Masquerade

Chapter 11: Masquerade

 **Hey everyone! I'm back with another great chapter for you all! Thank you so much for all your favorites, follows and reviews, it really means so much to me! So I know you all have been waiting for it and it is finally here! I've been soooo excited to show this one to you, this is honestly one of my favorite chapters and I have been looking forward to posting it! So I will leave you all to it and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. the Forces of Evil and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The ballroom was packed as the three friends approached, everyone all dressed up in expensive looking tuxes or ballgowns, the room alive with festive energy. The second they stepped through the doors, Marco began scanning the crowd for any signs of Star but saw no sign of the lively blond anywhere in the crowd. Jackie and Janna led Marco quietly along, pushing their way through the party-goers, Jackie keeping a firm hold of Marco's hand, the masked boy too distracted by all the sights and sounds around him to keep an eye on where he was going. Finally the three reached a relatively secluded spot and all took a moment to catch their breath from their claustrophobia. "Where's Star?" Marco finally asked the two, his inquisitive eyes still scanning the crowd around him, standing on his tip-toes to try and get a better a look around.

"Don't worry, Marco, it just started, there's still plenty of time for you two to dance," Jackie comforted, smiling at the boy's antics.

"Yeah, the night is still young, so just relax and play it cool," Janna added, putting her hands on his shoulders, holding him still.

Marco took a deep breath, nodding. "Yeah, okay. You're right." Suddenly Marco froze, seeing a strange sight next to him.

"Um guys, there's a... thing here and it's... staring at me," Marco whispered and the two followed his gaze to a floating eyeball, hovering off to the side of them, it's large eye trained on the three friends.

"Seeing-Eye-Cam," Jackie and Janna said as one, Marco looking to the two with confusion.

"The what?"

"It's a recording device, Marco," Jackie explained. "It films whatever it sees and uploads the image onto magic mirrors. We actually have something similar to this on Earth. Just... less creepy."

"Why is it staring right at us?" Marco quietly whispered to the girls, keeping a weary eye on the device, nervously trying to hide behind the skater girl.

"Relax," Janna said, taking a step forward and tapping the device. "It's not filming yet. It'll only be active during Star's dance."

Marco breathed a sigh of relief, stepping out from behind the skater. "Oh that's good... Wait! That thing's gonna be recording Star's dance!" The boy exclaimed, sounding nervous again.

"Don't worry about it Marco," Jackie comforted. "You'll do great."

But now Marco was anxious once again. How could he dance with Star now? He didn't even know how yet. What if he messed up in front of everyone? What if he made Star look bad? What if-

But Marco's pestering thoughts were interrupted as the lights in the ballroom dimmed and a spotlight lit up a nearby stage. "There she is," Jackie said, putting a hand over her eyes, trying to see over the suddenly screaming crowd. Marco felt his heart leap in his chest at the thought of Star, pushing off into the crowd, hoping to get a better look at her, his two friends following quickly behind, trying not to lose the eager boy in the fancily-dressed crowd.

As Marco drew closer to the stage he was finally able to spot Star, in front of a microphone, preparing to make a speech. Her normally flowing blond hair had been tied back into a bun, two streaks of blond hair framing her glowing face perfectly, her headband resting delicately on her head. Her face was graced with a soft, regal smile as she observed the chanting crowd awaiting her speech. She was wearing a beautiful single-sleeved pink and red dress, long white gloves and matching white boots, all of the garments highlighted by hearts and ribbons and Marco couldn't think of a time when she had ever looked more beautiful. And as he stared, starry-eyed, at his beautiful bestie, he slowly lifted up the mask off his face for a moment, trying to get a better look at the girl, his suns spinning in an eager, endless circle, his mouth agap at the girl's unparalleled beauty, as her image permanently burned itself into the boy's subconscious. Jackie and Janna, who had finally managed to catch up with the boy, both smiled at the sight of the entranced boy, before turning back to Star who cleared her throat preparing to begin her speech.

The crowd went silent as Star took a deep breath in, partially to clear out her nerves, putting a shaky hand on the microphone. "Welcome everyone, to the fifth annual Orphan's Ball!" she began, her voice projecting perfectly around the room, a bright smile on her face. She paused for a moment, as a cheer erupted from the crowd, waiting for her subjects to calm down enough for her to continue. "It's hard to believe that five years ago I started this ball when many of you began leaving to pursue lives and careers outside of this castle and I began wondering how I was gonna be able to keep in touch with so many people who had touched my life in so many ways." She put a hand to her heart for emphasis.

"So, this happened." She spread her hands out, gesturing to the packed ballroom. "And I have been so amazed that you all have come, despite your busy lives, to be a part of this magical evening." Star slowly gazed up to see the Seeing-Eye-Cam hovering above the crowd, a little red light blinking to indicate it was filming. She took a deep, shaky breath in, hoping that the microphone didn't pick it up, even though she knew it did. "I feel very blessed to have so many people a part of my life. Because you're not just my friends, you're all my family." Her voice grew choked up on the word and the crowd released a quiet _awww_.

Star cleared her tight throat, ignoring the blush on her cheeks as she continued. "And I know in my heart that you all will always be here for me and for each other." Marco leaned forward, getting a good look at the smiling faces that had surrounded him, Star's words echoing around the room. He smiled, feeling much less like a stranger in the crowd, as he leaned back, his gaze returning to Star.

"And as I look around this room I see all of my wonderful family, old..." she smiled, spotting Oskar in the crowd, looking as handsome as ever in his tux and she felt her heart pound.

"And new." Star froze as she her eyes landed on Marco in the crowd, tucked between Jackie and Janna, her heart stopping altogether. He looked downright adorable in his tux, Star seeing through his mask in a second, his brown eyes as bright and vast as ever. It did give him a cryptic edge though, Star finding his little masquerade charming and tempting at the same time, wondering who's idea if had been for him to wear it, Jackie or Janna. Probably Janna. Still, only Marco could somehow be both mysterious and precious at the same time, Star loving him all the more for it.

Finally, reality returned to Star as she remembered where she was, feeling the hundreds of eyes of the crowd focused on her, waiting for her to continue, burning into her skin. She finally pulled her attention away from the masked boy, as she turned to the crowd once again, praying that they couldn't hear her heart pounding into the microphone. She held back another blush, biting her lip, as she tried to recall the rest of her speech, mentally hearing the chiding words of her mother telling her a princess did not bit their lip, especially in front of a crowd.

"So we don't ever have to feel alone or unwanted," Star said, her prewritten words finally returning to her, her voice as strong as ever. "Because no matter what, we'll always have a family." The room went silent for a moment, Star's eyes gazing lovingly over the familiar faces around her.

"But hey," she continued, her voice much lighter than before. "That's enough of the sappy stuff let's get to what you all really came for."

A cheer quickly rang out from the crowd, Star smiling widely at them, as the crowd began chanting, "Dance! Dance! Dance!" over and over again, the royal feeling the room shake with every repetition of the word. She laughed, her eyes darting between the two points of interest in the sea of excited faces. Oskar and Marco. Her old crush and her bestie. The handsome bad boy and the adorkable innocent. The boy who she had known and cared for for years and the one who, in the short time she had known him, had changed her life in ways she couldn't have imagined. They were both special to her in their own way and yet she had to choose one to be her dance partner, to share that special, magical moment with. Finally, Star took in a deep breath, coming to a decision as she turned away from the microphone and made her way down the stairs.

The still-chanting crowd parted to let her pass, as she walked forward with purpose, ignoring the excited stares of anticipation, her sight set on her chosen partner. Finally, she stopped, the room going silent, every mouth dropped open in awe, as she held out a hand to him, a spotlight lighting up the two in it's hypnotic glow, the boy eying the out-stretched hand. "May I have this dance?" Star asked, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Me?" Marco asked, his voice a shocked whisper, quivering slightly, though if it was from nerves or joy Star couldn't tell.

"You." she simply repeated, moving her hand a little closer.

Marco tried to will his hand to move, but it was frozen at his side, panic and nervousness beginning to rise inside the boy. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his back, giving him a gentle push forward, making the boy stumble, forcing his arm into action as his hand grabbed onto Star's in an attempt to keep balance. The two's gaze locked as Marco felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment, thankfully covered by his mask. But Star just smiled, pulling him to his feet and out onto the dance floor, the masked boy following in a daze, the spotlight tracking their movement.

Once they were in the middle of the dancefloor, Star turned back to the boy, giving him an expecting smile. But Marco made no move toward her, awkwardly looking around at the Mewmans that surrounded them, feeling their judgmental stares burning into his skin, mentally thanking Janna for making him wear the mask, afraid his skin might burst into flames without protection. "What's wrong?" Star asked in a whisper, her quizzical eyes twinkling in the spotlight, a fact Marco noticed immediately, feeling his knees go weak a little.

"I-I don't know how to dance," the boy whispered, moving closer so only she could hear. The blond looked deep into her friend's begging, nervous eyes and couldn't quite hold back a giggle.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you," she whispered back, taking his hand in hers again. Slowly she pulled closer to the boy, till their faces were inches from touching, sky blue and chocolate brown shining in equal measures. Gently she took the boy's shaky hand, pulling it to her side, allowing it to rest on the small of her back, before placing her own hand lightly on his shoulder.

The music suddenly kicked in, a gentle, peaceful melody filling the crowded ballroom, Marco quietly squeaking to his friend, "Star?"

She leaned in closer to him, in response, whispering softly into his ear, "Just follow my lead." She quickly pulled away, listening to the music, waiting for the right moment to begin. Finally, the gentle melody's pace picked up a bit, Star giving the boy a small nod, Marco taking a deep breath.

Star slowly began to move in time to the music, Marco doing his best to mimic her steps as she began spinning him into a graceful circle, the two moving smoothly across the hushed ballroom. At first, Marco seemed nervous still feeling the stares of the crowd, moving slowly and unsure, keeping his eyes on his feet, trying desperately not to step on the girl's toes.

Star just smiled and shook her head at his adorable behavior, removing the hand from his shoulder and gently lifting his chin so he was looking into her eyes. "Hey, relax," she soothed, Marco feeling his heart skip a beat at her soft voice. "Don't think, just feel the music."

Marco wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that, but he took her advice, keeping his eyes on her, as he allowed Star to lead him expertly across the dance floor. Slowly, Marco began to relax, the soft, smooth beat relaxing him and bringing a smile to his face... or maybe it was the tingling feeling he was getting from holding Star's hand so long. Regardless, the masked boy began enjoying himself, letting the music suck him in as he confidently matched Star's movements, the two in perfect synch as the song swelled though the hushed ballroom. The world around them seemed to fade, the burning stares of the watching crowd all seemed to vanish, the quiet whispering of the excited onlookers were subdued by the encompassing music. All that existed was each other and their dance, captured perfectly beneath the bright spotlight.

Jackie and Janna watched the two with pleased smiles from the sidelines, taking in the look of pure joy and love on both of their friend's faces. "Well that went well," Janna said, Jackie nodding in agreement. The skater held out her glass of punch to her friend.

"To a job well done," Jackie said. Janna just smiled and held out her own cup, letting them clink together, before both gulped down the sweet liquid. The two went quiet for a moment, just watching the princess and her partner continue on with their dance, looking dazed in each others arms.

"So," Jackie said. "This doesn't count, right?"

"What do you mean?" Janna asked in confusion.

"The bet. We both helped out so it doesn't count right?"

"Sure."

There was a short moment of silence, before Jackie sent her roommate a knowing look out of the corner of her eye. "Unless one of us did do something more to interfere," the skater said, a suspicious tone to her voice.

"Huh? How do you mean?" Janna asked, sounding nonchalant at Jackie's questioning tone.

"Well I just mean, Marco did look a little frozen up back there but something seemed to get him moving." Jackie turned fully to Janna, with an accusing gaze. Janna kept her eyes focused directly in front of her, the tiniest of smiles gracing her lips.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Janna simply said, taking another sip of her punch, hiding her smirk beneath. Jackie held her glare on her half-monster friend. "But you know, now that you mention it, I do remember seeing someone else's hand reaching towards Marco. You wouldn't know anything about that, though, would you, Jacks?" Janna asked, giving Jackie a knowing smirk. The skater's face switched to one of shock, feeling her cheeks blush, before looking away from her friend.

"Well, he did seem like he needed it," Jackie whispered sheepishly, trying to will her blush away, rubbing a hand up and down her arm.

"Guess everyone needs a little _push_ from time to time."

Jackie and Janna shared a look for a moment, before they both chuckled. "Yeah.," Jackie finally agreed. "So we both interfered. Or at least tried to." Janna nodded her head in agreement.

"Looks like. One of us just interfered faster than the other." Jackie gave her friend a playful glare.

"Fine, fine," Jackie said, sighing, before offering her friend a handshake. "Truce."

"Truce," Janna said, taking the skater's outstretched hand in her own, the girls holding their cryptic glares, neither refusing to break.

A little further off from the dance floor, Ferguson and Alfonso also watched Star and Marco dance, the former frowning at the two. "I can't believe he got to have a dance with Star but not me!" the chubby boy muttered, looking downtrodden. "And just when I thought it was going to be a lucky break for the Ferg."

Al just rolled his eyes at his friend. "Come on, Ferguson, you have to admit they are pretty cute together."

Ferg took another look at the dancing couple, Star giggling as her masked partner dipped her low to the ground, keeping her there for longer than necessary, as she clung tightly to him, the boy's face unreadable from beneath the mask, but his infectious laughter filled the air as he finally pulled Star up, the girl getting her revenge as she spun him into a dizzying circle, the boy begging her to stop in between fits of laughter. Ferg sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"Besides I'm pretty sure your wife would get pretty jealous if she found out you danced with another girl." Ferg's eyes grew wide, as he remembered how jealous his pixie wife could be. Like the time she threw a poor innocent sprite in the dungeon for 10,000 years because she smiled at him too long. "Oh you're right, Al," Ferg groaned, face-palming. "She would kill me!" His voice grew cryptic and mysterious, his face looking surprisingly serious as he softly whispered, "Thank you masked boy, whoever you are, for saving me."

His nerdy friend raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? You don't know who that is?"

Ferg's serious expression immediately switched to a playful smile as he lightly chuckled. "Oh no, it's obviously Marco. Any idiot could tell that."

Oskar also watched Star's dance, trying not to feel jealous of the unknown boy in the mask. He admitted he did wish it was him who had swooped the princess off her feet but, as he took in the look of pure joy on the young royal's face, he was unable to stop himself from thinking that that was the happiest he had ever seen her. And it really was all thanks to the masked stranger.

For the longest time Oskar had known that Star had had feelings for him, I mean it was pretty obvious, all he had to do was smile and she would turn into a blushing, giggling mess, which he admitted was pretty cute, but sadly the boy had never really felt quite the same way. Not that he didn't care for her, oh no, quite the opposite, he owed her everything. She had given him a place to stay when he had nowhere to go, had comforted him when he had been at his lowest point, always encouraging him to keep moving and never give up on his dreams. She had been the reason he had continued to pursue his music, telling him that he had a true talent (even if the rest of Mewni didn't agree) listening to every new song he had wrote, introducing him to Master Ruberiot, heck she was the one who had even bought him his keytar, just randomly giving it to him out of the blue one day and never expecting anything in return. And he was grateful for everything she had ever done.

So when _she_ had reached her lowest point, when the world around her came crashing down, when her bright, joyous smile had ceased to shine, Oskar had taken it upon himself to help Star become the happy-go-lucky princess he had always known her to be, the princess he knew she wanted to be, wishing to repay the debt he felt he owed to the girl. And at first he had thought it was working, Star would smile and blush just like always, but it wasn't the same, her smile seemed fake and forced and Oskar began to realize that there was nothing he could do to cheer the grief-stricken princess up.

But now, it seemed while he was away, someone new had done the impossible, the unknown boy had found a way to cheer her up, the smile on her face the most real and genuine Oskar had seen in years. And it seemed he wasn't needed after all, all those years of flirting had been unnecessary, Star had recovered without him. And though he wasn't exactly pleased about it, he also felt a weight lift off his shoulders knowing Star was in good hands and that he didn't have to fake his feelings toward her any longer. His friend was okay.

The song slowly began to fade throughout the ballroom, its pace slowing, as the song prepared for its finale, Star and Marco smiling ear to ear as they stared deep into each other's eyes. Though Marco's face was hidden from beneath the mask, Star could see the joy in his eyes, as she brought the two into a final spin around the ballroom, the world blurring around the two, feeling her heart float around in her chest as he tightened his grip on her, pulling her a just a little bit closer to him.

Marco felt like he was going to faint as Star pulled him into a spin, her eyes flashing a hint of mischievousness, the lights brightening her face, giving her an angelic look, as her sky blue irises filled him with that same wonderful feeling, Marco afraid he might burst with the startling strong emotion, as he subconsciously pulled her closer to him, craving her presence.

Finally, the last cord of the music swelled, Marco dipping Star, the princess losing her breath at the boy's sudden movement, releasing her hold on his hand and wrapping her arms around his neck. The room was silent as the spotlight blinked off, the only noise coming from Star and Marco, who panted breathlessly, their eyes not parting for a single second, as the boy held her gently aloft.

After what felt like a life-time, someone in the crowd began slowly clapping, Oskar nodding in approval at his kinda-sorta rival, impressed with his ability to literally sweep the girl off her feet, the awestruck look on the princess' face cementing her properly wooed state.

The clap was quickly followed by another, then another, then another, until the whole room shook with the loud clapping of the crowd, cheers of joy echoing through the ballroom.

Star continued to stare up at the memorized boy, before finally whispering, "Umm, Marco you should probably lift me back up now?" She held in a giggle, as Marco finally snapped out his daze, Star picturing his cheeks blushing from beneath the mask, as he realized how close he currently was to his friend.

"Oh right," he sheepishly responded, lifting the girl back up to her feet, the two regrettably separating from each other, already missing the other's touch. Their was a short awkward silence between the two as the cheering around them finally ceased, everyone waiting to see if something more was going to happen. Finally, Marco coughed, trying to clear his tight throat, before addressing his princess. "So... um... that was really..." He thought for a minute of the right word to say.

"Amazing," Star finished for him, her eyes looking deep into his own, a shy smile on her face.

"Yeah," he breathlessly agreed. "It really was. Thank you, Star. For sharing that with me."

Star felt her heart leap at his words, her voice cracking, as she said, "Your welcome, Marco."

"But why'd you chose me?" he asked, lowering his eyes from the girl.

Star smiled and shook her head at the boy's low self-esteem, taking his hands into her own. "Because you're my bestie. And because there is no one else I would rather spend time with."

Marco's face softened as he looked back into her eyes, giving her that same adorably quizzical expression, flashing one of those bright smiles that made Star's heart pound. She turned to the still-watching crowd, finally remembering that they were there. "And that concludes our first dance," she said loudly to the crowd, just a hint of dismissiveness in her tone, the whole crowd immediately turning away from them, pretending to go back to their own activities.

Star turned back to her bestie, with a guilty look on her face. "I'm sorry. I'd love to hang out more, but this ball isn't going to run itself," she apologetically said.

"That's okay," Marco said, shrugging. "You go, I'll just hang out with Jackie and Janna."

Star nodded, still looking slightly guilty, as she addressed the crowd once again. "I hope you all enjoy the rest of your evening!" She smiled at her friend, releasing his hands. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

With that the two parted, Star disappearing into the crowd, leaving Marco in a daze. Jackie and Janna watched the two separate, another song immediately starting up.

"I'm gonna go get a refill," Janna said to Jackie, the skater nodding and handing over her cup.

"'Kay, sounds good," she replied.

"Don't have too much fun without me," Janna teased, before separating from her, quickly disappearing in the crowd. Jackie just smiled, looking around at all the happy, dancing couples around her, not aware of the shadow slowly darkening over her.

"Hey there beautiful," a flirty voice called behind her, making her jump. She swerved to see a cocky, well-dressed boy standing over her, giving her an an uncomfortable grin that made her skin crawl. She could tell instantly that this boy wasn't another orphan but some rich upper-crust who had snuck in, his expensive suit and arrogant smile giving him away. "So what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" He grinned, his eyes openly scanning her figure, Jackie's hands clenching into tight fists.

But Jackie took a deep breath hoping to get out of this as quickly as possible, giving him a pleasant smile. "What's a well-dressed, obviously wealthy aristocrat doing at a ball exclusively for orphans?" she shot back, her voice full of suspicion.

He chuckled, his confidence still brimming even after getting called out. "And here I thought I was being subtle." He gave her a flirty wink, Jackie holding in her gag. "But truth is I'm not an orphan."

"No," Jackie said in mock surprise, rolling her eyes.

"Fact is I only came here to try to pick up that little beauty over there." Jackie followed his pointing finger to Star, talking and laughing with some of the other guests. _Figures_ , Jackie thought.

"But, uh, seems I lost my chance," he continued, not sounding at all torn up over it. "And then I saw you and thought to myself, now there is a girl who doesn't belong hanging with this crowd of rejects." He leaned a little closer to her, his voice growing softer, his eyes narrowing on her form. "She should be with a guy like me."

Jackie inwardly groaned in disgust at the boy's attempts to "charm" her, while outwardly keeping up her normal, calm demeanor as she shook her head at him. "Look I can tell you're obviously trying but I'm just not interested, sorry," she said simply, trying to keep the hate out of her voice as she turned to leave, but was stopped as his hand wrapped around her wrist, holding her in place.

"Oh come on," he said, his voice dripping with over-confidence. "Don't be shy, dance with me."

"No thanks," Jackie said between clenched teeth, pulling against his iron grasp trying to get loose.

He chuckled dryly. "I don't thank someone with your _background_ has the ability to say no," he said, shooting her a toothy grin and Jackie gave him a hate-filled glare.

"I said no, now let go!" she hissed, raising her voice hoping to draw the attention of the crowd, but everyone was too caught up in their own activities to notice the skater's increasingly uncomfortable situation, as her admirer released his hold on her, making her stumble, her back hitting the wall behind her. Before she could even react, the boy had closed the distance between them, pressing her against the wall, resting one of his arms on the wall to prevent her escape. "Now come on, gorgeous, you and I both know you're better than all these other filthy brats the princess keeps around to make herself look better..." Jackie stared hate-filled daggers up at the boy, trying to think of some way to escape the arrogant aristocratic. "...you're far too pretty to live in the dirt like the rest of these peasants."

He gave her another slimy smile, playing with a strand of her white hair. Jackie tried to smack his hand away, but he easily caught it, Jackie giving him a hard look, but the boy's "flirting" tone never ceased. "Why don't we leave this dump and you can come back to my place. No one will even be able to tell you're one of these freaks. Come on, just say yes and I'll make all your dreams come true." He pressed, Jackie becoming more and more off-put toward the flirty boy, she knew Janna was on her way back, but still she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold this cocky, self-indulged brat at bay. She really needed a way out of this situation as soon as possible, she just wasn't sure how yet.

Marco casually strolled though the crowd of well-dressed Mewmans looking for any signs of his friends. "I'm not interested," Marco heard a desperate, but familiar voice call and he turned to see Jackie pinned against the wall another boy towering over her, giving her a strange smile. Marco wasn't sure who the new boy was but he could see that his friend was quite uncomfortable being so near him, her face a grimace, her body shifting uncomfortably from beneath the fancy Mewman's relentless stare. The boy immediately felt the urge to go over and help her, but he hesitated. He knew so little about Mewmans and their interactions he wasn't sure if interfering would be the right thing to do, for all he knew this was completely normal. He felt conflicted, looking around in hopes of finding some help in the matter, but Star was busy doing her own thing, having yet to even notice their friend's dilemma and Janna was nowhere to be found. It was all up to him. Marco took a few steps closer to the two, hoping to learn more about the situation and what he should do to help.

"Come on, beautiful," the boy gushed at Jackie's rejection giving her fake frown. "Don't hurt my feelings."

"I'm gonna hurt more than that if you don't get off of me!" Jackie spat at the boy, giving him the most off-putting glare she could.

"Fine," he said in surrender and Jackie felt a rush of relief run through her. "I'll let you go." His cocky smile returned and Jackie felt her heart drop. "After you give me a kiss."

"What?!" Jackie exclaimed in utter disbelief. The boy smirked, leaning in closer to her face, his target within sight.

"Come on, gorgeous, just one kiss and- Agh!" The boy's confident air smashed to pieces as Jackie kneed the boy as hard as she could right between the legs, the creep releasing an unmanly squeak, as he pulled away from the girl, barely having the strength to stand. Jackie smiled in victory over the arrogant boy's pain-filled face, freeing herself from the cramped position against the wall and walking confidently away from her tormentor.

But the boy wasn't going to let her get away that easily, growling at the impudent brat who dared to reject him, anger and rage fueling his actions as he loudly yelled, "You filthy peasant!" This drew the attention of several members of the nearby crowd, watching in horror as the angered boy raised a hand back, obviously going to slap the unsuspecting girl. "How dare you disrespect me!" Jackie turned in surprise, barely having time to see the hand closing in on her face, in too much shock to move or guard herself against the incoming attack.

The smack echoed around the room, drawing everyone's attention, the music ceasing as silence filled the large ballroom. Star slowly turned in the direction of the sound, her eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Jackie hit the floor hard, a hand instinctively rising to her face, filling for the scar. But she found no defects on her speckled skin as her eyes slowly raised up to see the shaky form of Marco, standing over her, the skater freezing up at the sight. Marco's face was scrunched up in pain, as a burning sensation spreading across his cheek, tears of pain blinding his vision. The impact had been so strong it had even knocked his mask off, the object laying haphazardly at his feet.

The rich snob at first did nothing, just staring in confusion at the boy, hand still raised, but he quickly snapped out of his stupor, feeling a rush of anger at the interfering welp. He grabbed the boy roughly by his collar, making Marco squeak, before drawing him in closer, openly scowling at the frightened Mewman. "Just who do you think you are?!" he hissed, Marco flinching at the raised tone. "You think you're something special just because the princess took pity on you." He laughed harshly. "You're nothing! Just a worthless piece of garbage like all the others here."

"Let him go!" a voice screamed, making the wealthy bully jump, just now realizing their display had attracted an audience. He turned in the direction of the yell to see the princess a short distance away, looking the angriest anyone had ever seen their beloved monarch, her normally calm, smiling face now morphed into a hate-filled glare, the look in her eyes making every party-goer shudder in fear.

"What?" the rich snob asked, his panic-stricken mind having trouble processing the girl's enraged tone, feeling an unfamiliar feeling of dread overtake him.

"Put Marco down right now!" she screamed, her voice shaking with rage and her enclosed fists doing the same.

Finally, he seemed to recover from his initial shock, scoffing loudly. "Look it's not my fault the idiot walked right into it-"

"Put. Him. _Down_." she commanded, her voice darkening with every syllable, her eyes narrowing on the boy, as he felt a shiver run up his spine.

At last, the bully obeyed, releasing his hold on the shuddering Mewman, Marco crumpling to his knees, a hand on his throbbing cheek, Jackie crawling forward to try and comfort him. Meanwhile, Star stormed forward, her hands still clenched into tight fists, glaring hate-filled daggers, as she came face to face with the startled snob, protectively putting herself between Marco and the bully. There was a short moment of silence, as Star just stared up at the boy with crossed arms, waiting for an explanation, no one in the room daring to even breathe, the tension in the room almost unbearable.

"Listen, princess I can explain-" the boy began, trying to make his voice as light and charming as possible. But this only angered Star more.

"Oh really," she grunted, her voice low and dangerous. "Well as much as I'd love to hear you lie your way out of slapping and insulting my best friend, you clearly weren't invited to this party in the first place so I suggest you leave... _now_!"

The boy looked surprised by the statement, but tried to stay calm. "Look this is all just a big misunderstanding." He gave a lighthearted shrug, attempting to put an arm around the girl. "I'm sure if we all relax everything will-"

The boy was cut off as Star smacked his hand out of the air, making him take an uncomfortable step back. "Oh don't even try it, you creep!" she screamed, struggling to hold back her temper.

The bully's eyes narrowed at the insult, angrily shouting, "How dare you?! Insulting me and taking the side of that worthless idiot!" He pointed to Marco, still hunched over at Star's feet, Jackie holding him from behind in a comforting embrace, trying to calm his shaking, as she glared daggers at the jerky aristocrat.

"Don't _ever_ talk about Marco that way again!" Star screamed, her whole body shaking with mirth. "Marco is not worthless. He's an _infinitely_ better person than you will ever be!"

The snob scoffed loudly. "He's nothing. Unlike me, he'll never amount to anything."

"Unlike you, he actually cares about people, all you care about is yourself!"

"Do you know how I am?!" the snob screamed into the princess' face, enraged at the girl. "If you kick me out I swear there will be repercussions-"

Star closed the distance between the two, ceasing the boy's rant, as she shot him a frightening glare, hissing into his startled face, "I already asked you once, now if you won't leave then I will remove you from this party myself!"

The boy opened his mouth to retort but the look in the princess' eyes was giving him the creeps and he felt his confident air quickly evaporate as he fumbled around for the proper insult. "Yeah well.. your stupid and this party is lame, I didn't want to be here anyway."

With that the wealthy boy turned and cut open a portal with his dimensional scissors, stomping angrily into the portal, with a defeated glare. The second the portal closed, Star turned on her heels to Marco, immediately dropping to her knees, trying to get a good look at the boy. "Marco, are you okay?" she asked with concern. "Where did he get? Tell me where it hurts?"

But the boy remained silent, keeping his head down, his face concealed by his hair. Though Star was slightly comforted to see his shaking had let up immensely. For just a moment her and Jackie shared a look of concern. "Marco," Jackie tried, keeping her voice as comforting as possible. "Come on, dude, we can't help you if you won't let us."

The boy was taking short, shallow breaths, sounding like he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. Star felt her heart break seeing him so upset. "Marco?" she said, her voice barely a whisper, her voice shaking with worry, putting a hand lightly on the hand still pressed tightly against his cheek. "Please." Finally the boy allowed Star to remove his hand, as he looked up at her, his brown orbs damp with unshed tears and Star felt her heart break at the hurt look he was giving her. But what hurt worse was the cut running all the way across Marco's cheek, the whole thing red and swelling. "Oh Marco," she breathed, her eyes growing wide, putting a hand to her mouth.

Marco felt his heart rate spike at Star's pain-filled voice, filling lost and confused at her bizarre behavior, his hand slowly looking down to see the blood on his fingertips. Marco felt a wave of fear run through him, his stomach twisting with guilt, the old feeling of dread overtaking the boy. The world around him broke and faded from existence as those same, pain-filled words returned to Marco frazzled mind. _These scars are proof of your crimes_.

Star heard Marco's weak, shallow breathing, the boy going into a panic attack right before her eyes, but as she reached out a hand to comfort him, he pulled away, leaping to his feet and out of Jackie's arms, already running for the door. Star and Jackie quickly stood, the princess shouting after her frightened friend. "Marco!"

Star was on his tail in a half a second, the startled crowd parting to let her pass. Jackie started to follow but stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Janna. "She needs to do this one alone," she said, her voice the most serious Jackie had ever heard, the skater regrettably pulling back, allowing Star to chase after their friend alone.

"Marco! Marco wait!" Star screamed, trying desperately to get Marco's attention, but he no longer seemed interested in listening. The doors to the ballroom slammed open as Marco rushed out, tears blurring his vision as he tried to find his way back to his room, but he had taken the wrong door, now in the lush castle garden, lit only by the moon above.

Marco didn't even hesitate as he ran deeper into the foliage, Star reaching the door quickly after, panting as she looked around for any sign of her friend. "Marco!" she screamed again, but there was no reply. "Marco please!" Star's voice cracked as concerned tears filled her own eyes. But she didn't have time to waste, the boy quickly gaining distance, so she took a guess, running off in the direction she hoped the boy had gone.

She ran as quickly as possible, calling the boy's name, suddenly regretting wearing the uncomfortable boots, finding running extremely difficult in the fashionable shoes. At last, Star spotted Marco a short distance ahead, trying to rub the tears out of eyes with the back of one of his sleeves, the boy slowing down as he found running more and more difficult being half blind. Star quickened her pace, gaining distance on the boy as she managed to grab onto his arm, pulling him back toward her. Marco was too startled by the sudden weight change to stop her, as he felt himself being forced to turn on his heels, seeing the half-blurry image of his best friend, as she pulled him into a comforting hug.

The two remained still for a moment, both panting, trying to regain their breath, feeling each other's racing hearts pound against their chest, Star with her head buried deep into the boy's shoulder, Marco with his arms stiff at his side, tears still falling freely down his face.

"It's okay," Star soothed, rubbing a hand up and down his back and Marco sobbed, his legs finally going out, as he dropped to his knees, Star following right after, refusing to release her hold on him.

"I-I'm so sorry," he sobbed and Star shushed him, squeezing him a little bit tighter.

"What on Mewni do you have to be sorry for?" she asked, trying to understand why the boy would be feeling guilt of all things.

"This scar," he sobbed, his throat tight. "It means I did something wrong!"

Star felt her heart shatter at the hurt tone in his voice, realizing he must have triggered his memories of Toffee's attack. "Oh, no, no, Marco, you didn't do anything wrong," she instantly soothed, trying to calm his racing thoughts.

"B-But I-"

"No! You didn't do anything wrong." She finally pulled away, looking deep into his eyes, putting both hands softly on his cheek, wiping the tears from his face, careful not to touch his scar. "Don't believe anything that _jerk_ said. You saved Jackie. You're a hero, Marco."

Marco sniffed, his breathing slowly slightly. "So you don't hate me?" he choked out, his eyes pleading and Star gave him a sad look. She sighed as she pulled him into another hug.

"Of course not," she said, her own voice cracking slightly. "There is nothing you could ever do that would make me hate you."

Marco felt a rush of relief at the statement, her words soothing him, bringing a familiar feeling of comfort with it. "Really?!" he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"Yes," Star said confidently, no doubt in her tone. "Yes, Marco. You're my best friend and I will always be here for you. No matter what."

Marco's tear-streaked face finally broke into a smile, as he returned the hug, wrapping his shaky arms around Star, burying his head into her shoulder, as his breathing slowed to a more normal pace, finally relaxing in Star's warm embrace. The two just sat there for a moment, letting the hug drag out for as long as they could, neither wanting to break the comforting hug, enjoying the warmth and joy it was bringing them, though neither would quite admit to it.

"Are you ready to head back to the party?" Star asked after a short while, though not letting up on her embrace, and Marco gently shook his head in reply.

"Can we just... stay like this a little longer?" he asked back, tightening his grip slightly.

Star smiled, giving a little chuckle at the boy's unbearable cuteness. "Sure, Marco. Whatever you want."

…

The whole crowd of orphans looked out into the garden, waiting, as they all looked around awkwardly, none quite sure what to say after the incident. Finally, a figure pushed their way out from the thick bushes, every orphan staring in anticipation at Janna, as she strolled forward with a blank look, Jackie taking a few steps closer. "Well," the skater questioned and every orphan leaned forward eagerly. "Did you find them?"

Janna's face grew into a smirk. "Yep."

"And?" Jackie pressed, concerned for the answer.

"He's fine," Janna replied, giving a dismissive wave, Jackie and the rest of the crowd all sighing in relief. "Though they didn't seem like they were in too big of a hurry to head back."

Jackie nodded in understanding. "That's fine. Let them have their moment. Marco earned it."

"Yeah he did!" someone in the crowd yelled and everyone cheered in agreement.

"Three cheers for Marco!" Ferguson screamed, the crowd instantly obeying his instructions, loudly chanting the masked boy's name loudly.

In the garden, Star and Marco broke their hug, hearing the boy's name loudly echoing around the lush woods, the two sharing a look, the boy's cheeks blushing at the unexpected praise. "Are they cheering for me?" he asked in awe.

Star put a hand on his shoulder, shooting him a proud smile. "I told you, you're a hero now." Marco's face broke into a shy smile, as he turned in the direction of the crowd.

Oskar whistled, drawing everyone's attention to him, ceasing the loud cheering, Jackie biting her lip, concerned the boy was about to ruin Marco's moment. He flashed them all a confident smile. "What do you say we get this party going again, for Marco?"

The crowd erupted into another cheer and Oskar smiled widely. Suddenly, he pulled his keytar from behind his back, none quite sure where he had been keeping it all that time. "And I'll play a song in Marco's honor."

The cheering instantly ceased, everyone shouting in concern and fear, "No!"

...

The room was dark and silent and cold, a deep chill settling into the poor soul being forced to enter the dark room. Beard Deer tried to hold back a shudder as he stood in the dimly lit doorway, his night vision doing little to see through the almost enchanted shadows that surrounded him. He was not looking forward to the conversation that was coming and the punishment that no doubt would follow, no, he was really not looking forward to that. Stupid Buff Frog going rouge and forcing him to become the cruel lizards right-hand monster.

He sucked in a breath and finally braved the darkness, walking hesitantly forward, his footsteps echoing off the cold cobblestone. He saw a small light nearby and walked hesitantly over to it. There he saw the lizard sitting in a chair, his eyes on a small mirror screen, lighting up his blank face, making him look even more menacing.

Beard Deer swallowed down his nerves as he saluted his master. "Master Toffee, second-in-command Beard Deer reporting from scouting miss-"

"Get to the point," Toffee said in an uninterested tone and Beard Dear jumped at the sudden outburst from his superior.

"U-Uh of course, Master Toffee." He cleared his tight throat. "Well unfortunately, even after searching close to the Butterfly Kingdoms border, as you suggested, we were still unable to locate either Marco or Buff Frog." Beard Deer tensed up, waiting for Toffee to snap.

But in typical Toffee fashion he didn't react at all to the news, his eyes on the mirror's screen. "M-Master Toffee?" Beard Deer said in concern, leaning closer to the lizard.

"How long has it been now, Beard Deer?" Toffee finally responded, making the monster jump.

"How long?" Beard Deer repeated in confusion.

"Since Marco was taken from us." Beard Deer felt his claws clench into fists, his hatred toward Buff Frog showing even in this fearful moment. He had no idea why Buff Frog had kidnapped his own son, but he wasn't really sure if it mattered at this point. All of the monsters hated him for it anyways. And if he ever got his hands on the traitors amphibian he swore he would make him regret it.

"A few weeks," the deer monster said bitterly, feeling slightly responsible for Marco's abduction. He should have protected him better.

Toffee sighed, sounding more bored than annoyed, but Beard Deer remained tensed and ready. Finally, Toffee looked over to his new second-in-command. "Tell the others to begin searching within the Butterfly Kingdom."

Beard Deer blinked, unsure if he had heard the lizard right. "But Master Toffee, Queen Moon and King River's army are surrounding the border-"

"Which means they've foolishly left their inner kingdoms completely unguarded. You should have no trouble getting around unnoticed."

"But what makes you think he's there?" Beard Deer risked and Toffee gave him a slimy smile that sent shivers down the monster's spine.

"Oh, just a feeling." Before the monster could question him further Toffee turned back to his screen. "You're dismissed."

Beard Deer hesitated for a moment, considering questioning him further, but wisely thought better of it saluting his superior and exiting the room quickly, blowing on his cold claws trying to get feeling in them once again.

The lizard didn't even hear the door close, his focus entirely on the mirror's screen. Its video had frozen on the image of the Mewman's beloved princess Star dancing with a young boy in a mask. Though his face and cheek marks were concealed, Toffee had seen though his facade in a second. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be clever or not, but regardless he had finally found his missing pawn.

Toffee's calm exterior broke, smiling wickedly, his eyes narrowing on the image of the boy. "Well, well, little Marco it seems you've made yourself a powerful new ally. Not that it will do you any good. I will reclaim what is rightfully mine." His gaze slowly shifted to the image of the perfect little princess, feeling his hatred burn at the sight of the Butterfly heir. "By any means necessary."

 **Cliffhangerssss! Sorry I can't resist them. So as I said before this is one of my favorite chapters, for many, many different reasons. I've been planning this one since the beginning and I am so pleased with how it finally turned out! Yay! Also, wow, is this one the longest chapter so far, *Phew* that was a lot of work.. but still fun!**

 **This was also my very first time writing a dance scene so this was kinda new territory for me. Still I think I pulled it off well. And the drama! Uh, man that was intense! My poor Marco, why do I make you go through all of this? Oh yeah, right... plot.**

 **Speaking of which, from here the plot is going to really start moving, as you can probably tell. The next one will be about the day following the ball and well, I can't really tell you any more than that. No spoilers, guys!**

 **Thanks once again to you all for your support! You make writing an absolute pleasure and I am the luckiest writer alive for having fans like you! Please feel free to favorite, follow, and review and I'll see you all next time!**

 **Now on the comments!**

 **Gamelover41592- Why thank you! I think you'll like how it turns out. Hope you enjoy!**

 **allen Vth- King Fergore is a pretty scary thought honestly! Ha ha, but it was too tempting an idea to pass up! XD Also I'm glad you think I did well with him and Al, they weren't my strong suit, but I did enjoy playing around with the humor for them. And of course, Oskar was one of my favorite parts this chapter. Yeah, I always pictured Star liking Oskar's music as more of a her thing, just having a different taste than... literally everyone else. But no, Star and Oskar never actually dated, she just crushed on him. I actually do go more into it this chapter.**

 **Marco's outfit wouldn't be complete without the skull mask, I thought it would be a nice touch that it came from Tom, though, it seemed like something he would have. Sadly, the blood moon will not be making it's appearance, yet, I'm saving that for a later chapter.**

 **Finally, haha Janna's skills should be that of legend. That was probably my favorite line in the chapter, just the thought of how she pulled that off cracked me up. XD Hope you enjoy the ball!**

 **Oracle6044- Oh she is definitely going to be! How could she not? Marco is just too cute! And thanks, I'll try my best!**

 **Sugar- Thanks, that is so sweet of you to say, I mean, Marco is pretty cute in the canon! :) As for Star liking Oskar, wellll... I always thought it was because Star always see's the good in people and never judges them too harshly. When she sees Oskar she didn't see some silent bum, but a cool, music playing bad boy. Besides, she did date Tom so I don't think Oscar was too far of a stretch. But, I like that about Star, seeing good in others is a good quality for her to have. And I'm glad you enjoyed Ferg and Al!**

 **Christopherprime22- Hello again, friend! *waves excitedly* Good to hear from you! But you don't have to apologize for not reviewing, I'm just as bad as you when it comes to procrastinating. Anyways, on to story!**

 **Secrets: I'm so glad you liked this one! I wanted Janna to be special in my story so I thought making her half-monster would be a good thing to do and her having "fake" fangs that are actually real was a big part of why I chose that. Ha ha, and I'm pretty sure they actually are real in the cannon. And yes, Marco getting a hug from the girl's was definitely my favorite part of this one. He is just too cute and you're right he deserves every happiness.**

 **A Sea of Strangers: Yeah, stuff is really staring to get going now, I wanted Marco to have some new friends and Ferg and Al seemed like the right guys to do it with. Also I'm glad you and everyone else didn't outright hate Oskar like I was afraid they would, making Star still crush on him I was afraid was going to have some negative feedback. But hey, we all know who Star is really going to choose... or do we? No, we do. But don't worry Star always accounts for Marco's feelings and she is crushing too hard on him to ever do anything bad enough to break his sensitive little soul. And of course they had to dance! You're right, no Starco fanfic is complete without our dorks dancing together! Also I added your phrase: "two adorable dorks" into the chapter so thanks for the unintentional idea, I just had to use it! :)**

 **So that just leaves the songs! I'm glad you like "If Only" and that was actually my favorite line too. Though I admit I never thought about it, but you're right! Marco does really, truly cares for Star more than normal reasoning can explain. And he doesn't have to go on adventures with her to care, he just likes her regardless, for exactly who she is and doesn't go around trying to change her to better suit his needs, because he already thinks she's perfect just the way she is. And that _is_ a special kind of magic... I'm equally as sappy, sorry! XD **

**So I don't know how but you somehow suggested the perfect song for the ball before you ever read a line for it! How did you do that? Honestly, "A Thousand Years" is the perfect match for this chapter, I say go for it! Though the song I pictured going along with this one was "All About Us" by He is We (feat. Owl City). Both fit it so well so you can take you're pick of which one. I honestly listened to both while working on it. Thanks for the suggestion, you are as amazing as always!**

 **So I guess that's it! See you next time, friend. I hope you enjoy the ball! I shall leave you with virtual hugs. *Hugs!***

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	13. Scars

Chapter 12: Scars

 **Happy late (sorry) Valentine's Day, Stardom! I know this one is out a couple of days late but unfortunately the internet on my poor laptop has been out the last couple of days (I still don't know why) so I had to wait for it to come back in order to post. But it just came up today, so here it is! *sighs* It feels so good to be posting again, I don't know what I would have done if I had to wait much longer! And I want to say thank you all for all the favorites, follows, and comments they just mean so much to me and I love every single one of you amazing people! I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

Marco looked at himself in the mirror, cringing openly at the sight he saw. His hair was a unkept, untameable mess, the sombrero giving him a bad case of hat hair and the little sleep he had gotten leaving him with an equally bad case of bed head, Marco unsure if there was any chance of salvaging the rat's nest his head had become. He had changed out of his suit and into one of his far more comfortable hoodies, but his face was the picture of unhealthy. Thick bags hung heavily under his eyes and his scar had only grown worse overnight, the whole thing red and swelling, the cut running all the way across one of his suns which glowed a sickly pink rather than its usual bright red hue. Though he still had some medicine left over from the doctor, it would take a few days before it would start looking any better.

The boy reached a tender hand up, touching the scar softly, but he hissed as pain surged through the injury, instantly pulling his hand away from his throbbing cheek. He let out a deep sigh, resting his forehead against the cool surface of his mirror, staring deep into his own sad eyes, whispering to himself, "What am I supposed to do? I can't go out there looking like this."

Last night it had been easier, Star's words had soothed him and he was too distracted by everything going on to really feel concerned about his appearance. But it was now morning, Marco exhausted from lack of sleep and the old worry had returned, his gut clenched with guilt. All he wanted was to stay in his room and hide, but Star had told him, just before turning in for the night, that the others would be leaving first thing in the morning and he would feel bad if he didn't at least try to see them off. They had all been so nice to him, when the two had finally returned to the party, the boy had been bombarded by praise from the other orphans, all complimenting him for his bravery, hanging around him all through the night, every single girl there asking him to dance at least once during the course of the night.

But now he felt awkward about his appearance, feeling subconscious about everyone seeing the scar. He knew in his head that what Star had told him was true, that it wasn't a big deal, that it didn't mean anything, but he still couldn't quite convince the rest of him that he had nothing to panic over, his whole body coursing with nervous energy.

His whole body jumped as a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, banging his forehead against the mirror. "Ow!" Marco quietly screamed, rubbing his now sore head. But he turned to the door with wide, fearful eyes, still unsure about someone seeing him right then. "Who is is?!" he called, before holding his breath waiting for the reply.

"It's me," a confident voice answered, Marco breathing a sigh of relief at the sound of Jackie's voice. If there was one person he was okay with seeing him this way it was his cool, skater friend. Well... her, or maybe Star.

"Come in," Marco said. The door opened and Jackie peeked her head in, a sheepish smile on her face, though her bright eyes shimmered like always.

"Sorry," she said, looking up at his hand, still tenderly massaging his temple, with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Marco nervously replied, finally letting his hand drop back down to his side. "I just... bumped my head." He pointed behind him to the large mirror.

"Oh," she replied, not quite sure what else to say. "So how are you feeling?" she asked, stepping into the room and quietly closing the door behind her, Marco noticing she kept a hand behind her back.

"Great," Marco responded, shooting her a far-too-wide-to-be-real smile, Jackie raising an eyebrow at him.

"Are you really?" she asked, with a questioning tone. "Because usually you'd be downstairs by now, wishing everyone goodbye."

Marco's smile dropped at the comment, his real feelings showing, as he let out a sigh, his face scrunched up with worry. "No. I'm not okay," he admitted, lowering his head in shame. "I just don't know if I want everyone to see me... y'know, like this." He pointed to the scar, his face the picture of uncertainty.

Jackie's eyes softened as she took a few steps closer. "You know no one cares about that, right?"

"Yeah, I know, I just..." Marco's voice cut off, unsure how to voice his fear, even to his close friend. He sighed once again, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know."

Marco froze as he felt a comforting hand on his own, removing his hands from his face, looking into the sympathetic eyes of his friend. "Dude," Jackie said softly. "It's okay. I get it."

The two went silent for a minute, Jackie gently holding Marco's hands, giving him a comforting smile. After a moment, Marco's face grew into a smile as well and Jackie finally released her hold on him, satisfied that he was feeling better. "By the way, I never got to thank you before."

"Thank me?" Marco asked, cocking his head cutely to the side.

"For stepping in the way of that jerk last night. That was really brave of you."

Marco blushed, sheepishly rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. "Not really. I didn't really think about it, I just kinda moved."

Jackie gave him a warm smile. "That's what made it so amazing, dude!" Jackie shouted in praise and Marco looked startled.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said, before finally pulling a small shopping bag out from behind her back. "So, anyways, I brought you something as a way to thank you."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Marco sheepishly said, waving his hands in front of him.

"Nonsense," Jackie exclaimed, thrusting the bag into his hands. "Sure I did. That's the whole reason I came here."

Marco looked closer at his unexpected gift. "You came to bring me a bag?" he asked, giving her a quizzical look.

"Try inside," she simply said.

Marco obeyed, opening it up to see a small tube containing some kind of brown liquid. "Oh, umm, thank you..." he said, his voice a mixture of gratitude and confusion, as he gingerly pulled out the small tube, trying to keep the smile on his face. "What is is?"

Jackie laughed at Marco's questioning look, shaking her head at his naivety. "It's concealer," Jackie explained in between giggles. "Y'know, makeup," she added, seeing Marco's still confused face.

"Oh," Marco said, giving the tube a closer inspection. "What's it for?"

"Well, it will help hide your scar," Jackie said and Marco's mouth dropped open.

"For real?!" Marco said in a whispered awe.

"Yep, it's not perfect but it will help it not look so bad."

"Th-That's great! Thank you so much Jackie!" Marco exclaimed, surprising the skater as he pulled her into a hug.

"You're welcome, Marco," she said, returning the hug. "I thought you might like that."

"I do! I really do!" Jackie smiled, glad to hear his typical upbeat energy had returned full-force. "Where did you even find it?" the boy continued, as the two finally broke off their hug.

"Well it's not really well-know here on Mewni, but luckily I remembered a store on Earth sold it so I took a quick trip over there earlier," Jackie explained and Marco's smile widened at his friend's kindness.

"Wow you went all the way to another dimension for me?!" Marco said, sounding chocked up.

"Of course," Jackie said. "I mean it was the least I could do..." She put a hand to her heart, her eyes softening. "For my hero."

Marco lowered his head in embarrassment. "Stop it," he muttered and Jackie giggled again.

"Okay, okay," the skater said, her voice retaining its cool radiance, as she gently took the concealer out of his hands. "So then want some help putting it on?"

Marco nodded vigorously. "Yes please!"

…

"How is everything, Star?"

"Oh, you know," Star replied, trying to keep her voice at a regal monotone, but she was struggling feeling awkward as she stared down at her small mirror screen. "Pretty much the same." She paused, the moment dragging on for far too long, unsure what to say next.

"So how was the ball, my dear? Anything special happen."

"Oh, same as ever, dad," Star said with a shrug. "Nothing to write home about."

"Really we heard rumors there was some kind of incident."

"Wellll," Star started, trying to think of the right thing to say to her oftentimes overbearing parents. "There was an issue.. but I took care of it."

"I'm glad to hear it, my dear," King River said.

"Well, I'm sure you did excellently, Star. You are turning into quite the proper princess. I'm so proud of you."

Star smiled. "Thanks mom."

"Though I did notice that boy," King River started, sounding suspicious. "I don't believe I've ever seen him before..."

Star felt her heart race, trying to hold back the blush that threatened to light up her cheeks. "Hmm? Who?" Star said quickly, trying to keep her voice calm and failing miserably.

"The boy in the mask," Queen Moon reminded, raising an eyebrow at the nervous girl. "The one you danced with."

"Oh. Oh, him. No he was just another orphan. I'm sure you've seen him before," Star said, waving a dismissive hand in the air.

"I'm fairly certain I haven't," River said, stroking his long beard. "What did you say his name was, again?"

Star panicked, feeling cornered, her secret about to be revealed. "Marco," she said softly, hoping the two wouldn't hear the name over her quiet tone.

"Marco?" Moon said, thoughtfully, obviously trying to recall if she had heard the name before.

"Yeah, but I really only picked him because I always dance with Oskar so I wanted to try something different," Star lied, giving an awkward chuckle. "It was really no big deal."

"Well, you certainly acted like it was a big deal," River pointed out, sounding suspicious and a little overprotective.

"I did?" Star said, generally surprised. The whole night had been a blur, her dance with Marco feeling like a rush of adrenaline and joy that passed by far too quickly, her only memories being of Marco's bright brown eyes looking deep into her own... and she mentally slapped herself to stop her thought process before she gave anything away to her parents.

"Yes, you seemed quite attached to him," Moon said, giving her daughter a knowing look, an eyebrow raising slowly, a sight Star dreaded.

"Well it all happened so fast," Star honestly replied. "And it did feel... almost magical." She held in her sigh, Marco's adorable face popping into her head out of nowhere.

"Star?" Moon said in a questioning tone, silencing Star's out-of-control thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have feelings for this boy?"

Star's face instantly flushed, the question taking her so by surprise, she was no longer able to hold her rushing blood back. "W-What?!" Star squeaked. "No-No! Of course not!"

Her parents shared a smile, obviously able to tell the girl was lying, as she continued to stutter with embarrassment, the two thinking the exact same thing. _So Skullnick had been right about Star and the new orphan._ Though neither would voice it out loud, taking the general's advice to allow Star to tell them in her own time, letting her decide when the time was right.

"Anyways, how's everything with you guys?" Star quickly said, trying to change the subject.

Her parents shared a quick look, before turning back to her with the same pleasant, forced smiles of before, but Star felt her stomach twist with nerves. "Mom? Dad? Is everything... all right?" she asked, with obvious concern.

"Oh of course, darling," Star's mother quickly said, keeping her voice light, but Star could hear how forced it sounded. "Things have just been a bit... difficult of late."

There was a short pause. "Is this about Toffee?" Star asked, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.

"It's nothing for you to concern yourself over, Star," Queen Moon soothed.

"Yes, your mother is right," River took over. "We can handle the lizard." Though her father sounded confident Star could hear a hint of hesitation, realizing that they were hiding something from her.

"Okay..." Star said hesitantly. "I-Is there something else?" Her parents were silent for a moment, neither quite sure what to say to their distressed daughter. "Guys, what's wrong? Seriously you can tell me?"

The two royals froze, both looking quite concerned about setting her off and Star felt frustrated at their over-protectiveness wishing they would just trust her. She was basically ruling Mewni in their absence so why were they still treating her like a kid?

"Never mind," she said quickly, unable to quite mask the miserable edge to her tone. "Just forget it. I gotta go the orphans are leaving in a few minutes, I better go see them off." She gave them a quick wave and a half-hearted smile.

"Star, darling, please don't-" But Star had already closed her mirror, ending their call. She just sat quietly for a minute, contemplating, her mind reeling from the distressing call. But she realized she had wasted enough time moping, like it or not, she still had a kingdom to run. So she took a deep, shaky breath, the smile returning to her face, as she rose from her seat, straightening her dress out as best as she could, as she headed for the door.

…

Marco and Jackie walked slowly out the castle doors, surveying the lively courtyard around them. Though it seemed some of the orphans had already left, the courtyard was still fairly crowded, most of the guest awaiting a farewell from their beloved princess. Marco stopped in the doorway, trying his best to hide behind his friend, Jackie turning to him with a confident grin, which didn't fit this stressed situation in Marco's opinion.

"I can't do this! They're all staring at me!" the boy instantly panicked, a hand reaching up to cover his cheek.

"Relax, dude," Jackie soothed, pulling him out in front of her. "You look great. You can barely even see the scar."

And she was telling the truth, the concealer had done it's job perfectly, disguising the scar and thick bags, his skin looking healthy once more. Even his cheek marks glowed brightly, the particular brand of liquid Jackie had picked out apparently infused with some kind of magical property that worked on cheek marks, too. Though Marco's hair was still a mess, it gave him an adorable factor more than anything else, Jackie fairly confident Star would go nuts over his disheveled look when she saw him, not that the boy would know that (nor would she ever tell him or anyone else).

"Then why are they all looking at me?"

"I already told you. They think you're a hero."

"But I'm not."

"Well, regardless, the masses have spoken. You might as well enjoy the attention."

"I don't know," Marco muttered, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, looking out at the crowd with a grimace. "Maybe we should just go back inside." Marco tried to make a break for the door, but was stopped, as Jackie grabbed on tightly to his hood and pulling him immediately back.

"Now what did I tell you before Marco?"

"Ummm..." Marco said thoughtfully.

"Everybody falls off a skateboard at least once," she continued, ignoring the boy. "The important thing is getting back on."

"But you left your skateboard inside," he said questioningly, pointing at the castle.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "It's an expression, Marco," she chuckled. "What I mean is, you have to face your fears."

Marco said nothing, looking back out at the crowd, still unsure if he should. He was starting to feel closer to the others, but he was feeling anxious, his covered cheek still throbbing, reminding him of its presence. "Dude, you made it!" a familiar voice yelled, interrupting Marco's thoughts as he turned to see Ferguson approaching, waving wildly at him, Alfonso close behind. Marco smiled at his two new friends.

"Hey guys!" Marco yelled back, all signs of nervousness gone as he waved to them, Jackie smiling at his instant mood switch.

"We were starting to be afraid you wouldn't show," Al said as they finally caught up with the boy.

"Well of course he was going to come," Jackie spoke up, both boys looking over to her.

"Oh, hey Jacks!" Ferguson greeted cheerfully. "Haven't seen you in a while?"

"Hey, Ferguson," Jackie said smoothly, her hands on her hips. "Good to see you too."

"So are you two heading back to Pixtopia?" Marco asked the boys.

"Yep," Ferg sighed loudly. "Vacations over. Time to get back to work."

"And by work you mean sitting on your throne for hours at a time, doing nothing," Al questioned and Ferg scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Uhh, yeah. It's not as easy as it looks," the chubby boy said defensively.

"I'm sure," Jackie said sarcastically.

"Look everyone it's Princess Star!" a voice suddenly interrupted, a collective scream vibrating through the courtyard. The teens all turned to see Star, exiting out of the giant castle doors, as well, instantly spotting Marco and the others and changing course so she was approaching them. Marco felt his heart swell at the sight of her. She had switched to her typical sea-green dress, complete with headband, but she still looked as beautiful as ever, the morning light catching her blond locks, taking Marco's breath away. And now he was feeling awkward about his appearance once more, his cheeks warming at the realization that he was a messy slob compared to the beautiful, well-dressed princess.

Star, however, didn't think the same. In her mind, Marco looked adorable, his messy hair giving him the cutest look Star thought she had ever seen. Though she was surprised to see the scar was almost completely gone, barely showing against his glowing cheek mark. "Hey Marco!" she greeted cheerfully. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Marco shrugged, blushing slightly. "Pretty good actually," he muttered with embarrassment, finding himself longing for his mask once again.

"Good. Glad to hear it," Star said joyfully, patting his shoulder softly, her fingers tingling with every touch. The two just stared at each other for a moment, their eyes twinkling, thoughts of the night before filling both of their heads, Star letting her hand drop once more.

"Hey Star," a familiar voice called to Star's left, breaking her moment with Marco, as she turned nearly jumping out of her skin at how close Ferguson was to her, not hearing or seeing the boy move, the chubby king surprising quiet and quick.

"Hi Ferguson," Star greeted, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice. "How is everything-"

"With the Pixie Empress," he finished for her, sounding far too peppy. "Oh it's going great. Couldn't be happier."

"Glad to hear it," Star said, feeling slightly suspicious of the boy's bizarre behavior. "You two do make a cute couple."

"Well we're not the only ones," Ferg said, a cryptic edge to his tone, wagging his eyebrows at the girl. Star felt her heart stop as the chubby boy, for just a second, looked over at Marco before his gaze returned to Star, a knowing look in his eyes. _Please don't say it_ , Star mentally begged the boy. "You and Marco were-"

"Hey Ferguson!" a new voice called and they turned to see Janna, looking as smug as ever, Oskar standing next to her looking equally as smug. "I think we just saw your wife and she looked pretty upset." The beanie-wearing girl pointed behind her, Oskar nodding his head in agreement.

The boy's face instantly paled as he yelled, "Oh no, she's here!"

"What's she doing here?!" Al added, sounding equally as confused.

"I don't know, man?" Oskar said shrugging. "Something about you sneaking out to flirt with another girl."

"Oh no," Ferg said, his voice barely a whisper, his eyes widening with every syllable. "I thought my trick would fool her at least for a few more hours."

"Well you have been gone for over a day," Jackie pointed out.

"Wait you didn't tell your wife you came here?" Marco asked in confusion.

"Of course not," Ferg said defensively. "She would be super jealous if she knew I went to a dance without her."

"I told you making fake versions of us out of corn was a bad idea," Al said matter-of-factly, adjusting his glasses.

"Well maybe if you were a better royal advisor you could have come up with a better solution!" Ferg screamed at his friend.

"Uh, guys," Star interrupted. "Don't you think you should leave before she finds you here?"

"Good idea, Star," Ferg said, grabbing the dimensional scissors out of Al's hands, immediately opening a portal.

"Hey Ferguson!" Al began, upset at having something stolen out of his hands, but was interrupted as the chubby boy shoved him through the portal. "Bye guys!" Ferg called cheerfully, waving at the teens. "It was nice to meet you, Marco!" Suddenly, his smile broke, giving them a serious expression, his voice intense. "And if my wife asks, we were never here."

The boy continued to stare at them, his body half-way through the portal, an awkward silence forming within the group. Finally he slowly backed away, until he disappeared completely from view, the glowing vortex closing a second later. "Okay bye!" Marco yelled enthusiastically, everyone else smiling at his antics, breaking the tension instantly. Star took a few steps closer to Oskar and Janna, whispering to them quite enough so that Marco couldn't hear, "Sooo, did you really see the Pixie Empress?"

"Absolutely not," Janna admitted instantly.

"We just figured you could use a little intervening," Oskar added.

"Awww thanks you guys!" she pulled them both into a hug. "You're the best."

Oskar blushed from the unexpected contact, but Star pulled away a second later and his blush disappeared with it. "No problem, Star," Oskar confidently responded, flashing her a grin. "Anytime."

Star gave him a small smile, suddenly looking sheepish, nervously twiddling her fingers. "Umm, hey Janna do you think you could give us a minute?"

Janna raised her hands up in defeat. "Whoa, I know what that means. Say no more. If you need me I'll be off scaring orphans." With that Janna walked away, off into the crowd.

"So what's up?" Oskar asked, unsure why the princess was so desperate to talk to him all of a sudden.

"Sorry, for not dancing with you last night," she muttered quietly, not daring to look the boy in the eyes (or where his eyes were supposed to be beneath his mop of hair). The boy looked surprised by the statement, but he smiled at his blond friend.

"Hey I get it, Star," he soothed and Star's eyes shot up to him instantly. "It's clear you have feelings for Marco and I don't want to get in the way of that. Besides you seem like your happiest when your near him." Star looked over to the boy in question, whose loud outburst had attracted the attention of the crowd, now surrounded by orphans all chattering and wishing him farewell, looking dazed, as Jackie held onto him tightly by his hood, keeping him from being swept away by the crowd. She smiled, realizing Oskar was right, Marco had brought joy back into her life, she just hadn't realized how much until now.

"Yeah, he's pretty great," Star admitted, her heart cheek marks beating once without her knowledge. But Oskar thought it best not to mention it to her. "But the truth is, Oskar," she started again, looking super anxious, as she tried to find a way to word the next sentence. "I have a confession. I-I've always had a bit of a-a-"

"Crush on me?" he finished for her and she froze in shock. _He knew?_ was all she could think, as she managed to squeak out, "H-How long have you known?"

He gave her another smile, the most real and genuine one Star had ever seen on the quiet teen. "A couple of years."

"But... why did you never say anything?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I figured you'd tell me when the time was right."

"S-So then, you knew a-and all the flirting. It wasn't just in my head?" Star whispered mystified, blushing as she thought of all the times she had embarrassed herself in front of him, the boy secretly aware of the reason for her bizarre behavior. "You actually were interested?"

Oskar said nothing, but Star knew him well enough to know he was upset. "Well... not exactly," he admitted. "I do care about you Star. Seeing you happy is one of the greatest joys in my life... outside of my music of course." Star giggled slightly. "But I don't feel the same way. And I'm sorry if I made you think I was leading you on. Truth is I would have dated you in a heartbeat if it meant seeing you smile."

Star said nothing for a moment, staring down at her hands, folded neatly in front of her chest. Though he didn't show it, Oskar was secretly holding his breath, impatient as he waited for Star's reaction. Finally Star looked back up to him. "You really feel that way?"

Oskar nodded. "Yeah, of course I do. You're my muse, Star."

Star smiled widely at the boy, Oskar returning it with a grin of his own, mentally sighing with relief that Star wasn't upset with him. "That's really sweet of you, Oskar. But I don't want you to feel like you have to pretend just to make me happy."

"I know, but sometimes that's what we have to do for the people we care about." Star stopped for a moment, thinking about the call from that morning. Maybe her parents weren't keeping secrets from her because they didn't believe in her, maybe they were just trying to protect her. She was one of the youngest acting rulers in Mewni's history, and she was running off of entirely instincts, trying to fill a position she didn't want in the first place. Of course there was some material that was off limits to her. If they weren't willing to tell her, they had to have a reason.

"But," Oskar continued, Star snapping out of her daze she hadn't realized she had gone into, the boy casually tucking his hands into her pockets. "If you don't mind a suggestion. Maybe you should consider not pretending about how you feel."

"What do you mean?" Star asked in fake confusion, her heart instantly beginning to race.

"I just mean that if you really do care about Marco as much as I think you do, maybe you should consider telling him. Before it's too late."

Star nodded slowly, deep in thought, trying to decide if her friend was right or not. She honestly wasn't sure how she felt, her heart and her head having trouble agreeing on that particular subject. She knew she cared for Marco, but she couldn't tell how much. Sure she kept having the temptation to kiss him, but was that because she liked him? After all, until Marco her emotions mostly consisted of either stress or sadness, so maybe she was so blown away be the sensation of joy that she was making it into something more, turning these feelings onto her bestie. Or maybe she really did have feelings for him, as more than just her friend? "I'll.. think about it," was all she said.

"Star!" the two turned as the hooded boy in question approached them, looking flustered, his eyes darting around constantly. The second he reached them, he grabbed on tightly to the girl's arm, moving in as close to her as he could, the girl's cheeks blushing from the contact, but Marco was too paranoid to notice, still looking around for something. "Quick hide me!" he shouted.

"Good to see you too, Marco," Star replied in a joking tone, smiling at the boy latched onto her arm. "But where did Jackie go?" Star looked over to see the skater a short distance away, trying to coax down the crowd to give the flustered boy his space.

"I don't know! It was all chaos!" Marco screamed in panic.

"What's the problem, dude?" Oskar asked nonchalantly and Marco's focus instantly switched to him.

"This is so stressful," he said, sounding terrified. "They just keep asking me questions and stuff and then just staring at me, waiting for me to answer, and _I don't know what to say back_!" The boy buried his head into Star's shoulder and the girl patted him softly on his head with her free hand.

"There, there," she soothed, before turning her attention to Oskar, giving him a knowing look. "Looks like Marco just discovered the joys of being a celebrity, huh?"

Oskar clicked his tongue, crossing his arms. "Yeah and these are just fans, wait till he gets his own critics."

Marco's eyes widened, pulling away some from Star's arm, giving the princess a panic-endused stare. "W-What why?! What do they do?!" Marco stuttered. Star and Oskar shared a look before breaking down into laughter, Marco now completely confused, unsure how they could be laughing over this stressful situation.

"Sorry Marco," Star finally managed to choke out, smiling at the boy's baffled face. "We're just teasing. All these people want to do is get to know you, don't feel stressed, okay."

"Yeah, dude, just be yourself. That wins them over every time," Oskar added, shooting the boy a confident grin. Marco froze for a second, giving the boy a long, hard look, unsure what to make of him. This was the same boy who Star had a "crush" on, whatever that meant, and he couldn't help but feel a little put-off towards him. Star, on the other hand, seemed completely different around the wannabe musician now, somehow going from the giggling, flustered mess from yesterday, and somehow becoming the complete opposite overnight. Now she seemed far more relaxed around him, talking and joking with him like he was just a close friend and not the center of the whole universe, the girl completely blushless when he smiled her way (which was a huge relief to Marco if he was being honest). And Oskar seemed to be reciprocating those feelings, not shooting her some cocky smile or acting all weird so she would go into a daze, instead just smiling and laughing with her like any friend would. Sure, they still seemed like they had known each other for a long time, but Marco felt at ease with that fact, no longer plagued by that uncomfortable, anger-fueled emotion toward the boy, just that same fluttering feeling he always had around Star.

Star and Oskar shared a look, unsure why their hooded friend had gone weirdly silent all of a sudden, both concerned by the almost-glare he was giving the startled Oskar. For a second, Star was afraid Marco was going to harshly reject the boy, as he took a deep breath in, both Star and Oskar bracing themselves for the worst.

But, instead, Marco just smiled at Oskar, saying, "Thanks. I'll remember that." There was no malice or ill-ease in his tone, just the regular Marco cheeriness he usually had, no ounce of what he said sounding faked or forced to either of them and both felt themselves relaxing at that realization.

Oskar's smile also returned, as he replied with an approving nod, "Great glad to hear it." He offered Marco his hand, the boy eying it for a second before returning the gesture, finally releasing his hold on the girl's arm. "It was really great to meet you, Marco. Keep being awesome, okay man?"

"Okay I'll try," Marco replied.

Oskar leaned just a little closer, lowering his voice so the princess couldn't hear. "And take good care of Star, I'm leaving it up to you now, so don't let me down."

"U-Uh, S-Sure," Marco stuttered, pulling just a little bit away from the smirking Mewman, not quiet sure what he meant by that. But Oskar, didn't explain, as his attention shifted to Star giving her another warm smile.

"Well, Master Ruberiot's waiting for me, so I guess I better be going," he said, sliding his hands smoothly into his pockets once again.

Star just smiled sadly. "Guess so," she replied, with a small shrug.

"Hey, cheer up. You'll be hearing from me again real soon, still got plenty of song ideas I can spread to this musically-devoid dimension," he rolled his eyes and Star giggled slightly.

"Can't wait. Just remember, you don't have to be a stranger, the gates are always open for you."

"Never doubted they weren't."

With that the aspiring musician turned and left the two, Star and Marco waving and yelling their good-byes after the boy, as he disappeared into the crowd. Once he was out of sight of the two, Janna appeared beside him, matching his pace perfectly, the boy not acting the least bit shocked to see her there. "Sooo, how'd it go?" Janna asked, with a knowing tone.

Oskar shrugged, nonchalantly. "Okay I guess. She finally confessed, so there's that."

"Wait," Janna said, leaning in closer to the boy, a smug smile slowly spreading across her face. "She actually admitted to having feelings for him?"

"Well not directly. But I mentioned it and she definitely didn't deny it."

"And did you do what I told you?"

Oskar shrugged, trying to keep the smile off of his face, as he replied. "I may have subtly mentioned she tell Marco how she feels."

"Way to go, Oskar!" Janna exclaimed, punching the boy lightly in the shoulder. "At this rate they'll be dating in no time and I will be twenty bucks richer."

"Uhhh, don't you mean ten?" the boy hinted and Janna scoffed.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry you'll get your cut. The important thing to remember is, if Jackie asks..."

"We never had this conversation," he finished for her.

"Good boy. And just like that our crushing lovebirds are that much closer to becoming star-crossed lovers. All according to plan," she said, sounding quite pleased with herself.

"Janna, I'm starting to wonder if you're secretly some kind of evil genius," Oskar pointed out, raising a questioning eyebrow at his friend.

"Well duh," Janna huffed, rolling her eyes at how obvious it was. "Took you long enough to notice."

The boy paused for a moment, giving her a skeptical look. "Should I be concerned about what hanging out with you means for me as a person?" he finally asked.

"Yes, yes you should."

…

The rest of the day went off without a hitch, Star wishing the others farewell, giving out many, many goodbye hugs as the courtyard slowly cleared out, the orphans returning back to their own lives. Marco too was kept busy, every orphan it seemed expected a goodbye from their resident hero. The boy, finally taking Oskar's advice, slowly began to enjoy all the attention he was getting, feeling his heart swell with all the praise. Soon the courtyard was cleared, the gates closing shut once again, life in the castle returning to its normal craziness, as Star set about to the long, exhausting work of running her kingdom.

The day felt like it dragged forever, the piles of paperwork and tedious tasks seeming to never let up, but Star's mind was alive and buzzing with her own troubling and confusing thoughts. Oskar's words continued to come back to her all throughout the day and everytime they did Star became more and more frustrated, as her racing thoughts continued through their endless cycle. Thoughts of Marco and her feelings toward him. Thoughts of the monsters and their never-ending war. But most of all, she thought of her parents and the secrets they were keeping from her.

Finally, she came to the same depressing conclusion on all points: she didn't know how she felt. And though she knew there was little that could be done to fix all of her issues, she knew one thing for absolute certain... she had to know what her parents were keeping from her. She knew they were well-meaning, but until she knew the truth she couldn't relax, her troubled mind coming up with more and more terrifying conclusions, she had to know what had them so upset.

…

Star took a deep breath, clenching her mirror phone tightly against her chest. She did a quick check over to make sure she looked decent, the last thing she needed right now was a lecture on proper princess attire from her mom. Finally, she steeled her nerve as she flipped open her mirror phone, saying, "Call Mom."

" _Calling Mom_ ," the computer voice repeated, fulfilling her request as the image of her parents was instantly recalled onto the screen.

"Star sweetie, what is is?" her mother immediately asked with concern, her dad looking equally as concerned next to her. Star could tell they were flustered, their clothes tattered and covered in soot, the sound of screaming heard in the distance.

"Mom! Dad! Is everything alright?!" Star asked, ignoring her mother's question. " _Are you guys alright?!_ "

"Everything's fine, Star," her mother comforted, her voice semi-calm. "We're fine. You just came at a bit of a bad time, is all."

"What's going on over there?!" the princess asked, squinting, trying to see more of the scene off her tiny screen. "Is something on fire?!" she gasped.

"There was just a bit of an incident," River said. "A group of revolting monster set fire to our weapons stores. Nothing we can't handle."

Suddenly a voice from off screen yelled, "We can't handle this!" Followed by a loud explosion. Star's eyes widened, as she debated on whether or not she should call back later or not.

"So why did you call, sweetie?" Moon asked, her voice all business, ignoring the chaos behind her, all her attention focused on her daughter.

"O-Oh, u-um," Star felt flustered, finding her mind drawing a blank, somehow forgetting her reason for calling altogether. Finally, after an uncomfortably long moment, she was able to gather her nerve enough to continue. "Sorry. For hanging up on you earlier," she apologized, looking sheepishly at her parents. The two shared a look, seeming surprised by the apology, but as the two looked back to her their faces softened.

"Actually," Moon said with a sigh. " _We_ are the ones who should be apologizing. We're so sorry for not telling you the truth, Star."

"It's okay, I think I get it," Star said. "At first I thought you didn't trust me, but now I realize you're just trying to protect me."

"Well," River blurted out, both he and Moon staring at their daughter, wide-eyed. "That's... remarkably mature of you."

"But," Star interrupted, needing to say this next part as quickly as possible, before her nerves gave out on her. "As much as I appreciate the concern, as the temporary ruler of this kingdom I need to know the truth about Toffee, no matter what, for the safety of my people."

The two were silent for a moment, giving her a sad look, and Star couldn't shake the feeling that she had just made a mistake. "Star, it isn't about Toffee," her mother slowly said, confirming Star's fear.

"W-What?" Star stuttered, losing any ounce of mustered courage by the unexpected twist, at a loss as to what they would be keeping from her. She had just assumed it was Toffee or some form of monster problem, what else could would they be protecting her from? "T-Then, what is it?!"

Her mother hesitated, before letting a slow, shaky sigh, bracing herself for the inevitable negative reaction that would surely follow what she was about to say. " _She_ was spotted again," she finally said, her eyes immediately dropping to the floor, her face filling with pain, as her eyes drifted away from the image of her daughter on her end of the screen.

…

"Star?" Marco called, knocking softly on the firm wood, waiting to hear a reply from the girl. "Star, the suns going to set soon, do you still want to go?" he asked, trying to open the door, but was surprised to find it locked tight.

"Ummm, not today, Marco, okay? I don't really feel up for it," she replied, Marco instantly picking up the strain in her voice, though he couldn't even begin to guess what it was from.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm just... kinda tired." Marco felt his gut clench at once at how forced it sounded, like she was struggling to keep her voice steady. Had she been crying?

"Oh, okay, maybe... next time, I guess," Marco awkwardly stated, but in his mind all he could think was: _Why is she lying to me?_

He paused waiting for some kind of answer from the girl but he got none. "Star?" he called softly. Nothing. Just empty, crushing silence. Finally, Marco turned to leave, but he stopped, unable to bring himself to take another step forward, feeling a pressing worry for his bestie, grimacing as he struggled to make a decision. He couldn't help it, he couldn't get her strained tone out of his head. And, he reasoned, Star had been there for him last night when he had needed her most, even when he didn't want it, how could he call himself her friend if he didn't try to return that same gesture? So, he turned back to the door, with a new determination, knocking on the wooden frame, once again.

"What?" came Star's still strained tone.

"Star?" Marco said, trying to keep his voice strong. "Can you let me in?"

There was a pause, followed by an audible sigh. "Marco, I just... really want to be alone right now," she didn't sound angry, but he could hear the miserableness in her voice, her resolve slowly starting to break.

"Star, what's wrong?" Marco asked with growing concern.

"Nothing's wrong, Marco. I-It's nothing, really," she said, sounding less like she was trying to convince him and more like she was trying to convince herself.

"It doesn't sound like nothing." There was another pause, the girl obviously at a loss for words. "Star, please, I'm just worried. You sound really upset and I just want to help." He paused for a moment, listening before adding in a softer tone. "You were there for me when I needed you. Just let me return the favor."

There was still silence on the other end and Marco sighed, worried he had made a mistake and gone too far, until he heard a lock clicking from the other side of the door. He looked at the now unlocked door intensely, waiting for a response from the princess. After an unbearably long minute, he got one.

"Okay," Star's hesitant voice called. "You can... come in."

The boy didn't even hesitate, opening up the door and stepping inside, spotting the sad form of Star sitting on her couch, her knees up to her chest, her eyes glazed over and gazing off into the distance. She had removed the headband, that and her mirror phone sitting next to her on the couch. She didn't even look up as the boy stepped hesitantly closer. He started to reach out a hand to comfort her, but stopped letting it fall to his side. Now that he was here he was suddenly unsure what he was supposed to do. He honestly didn't think he would make it this far.

"Sit," came the command from Star, still not dropping her gaze on the corner wall, Marco jumping at the unexpected command. But he obeyed, silently moving the headband and phone out of the way and taking a seat next to the girl. He stared at her, trying to work up the nerve to ask her why she was behaving so oddly, his nervous brain trying to come up with the proper words to say in this stressful situation.

But just as he opened his mouth, Star spoke. "So now you know," she said miserably, chuckling dryly to herself. "All this time I thought I could hide this side of me from you. Thought I could make you see me differently from everyone else. But... I guess that was too much to ask, huh?" She went silent, tears flooding her vision for a moment.

"Star?" Marco said in concern.

"I didn't use to be this way, y'know. A long time ago, I used to be happy and carefree and nothing but smiles. But my parents thought that I was too rambunctious, so they decided it was best if I attended a school that would teach me how to behave like a proper princess. So they packed me up and sent me to St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princess's. They never even asked me if I wanted to go or how I felt about it." Her voice cracked and she sniffed, struggling to keep the tears from falling, Marco just waiting for her to continue her story.

"What no one knew," she continued, her voice regaining some of its strength, but still sounding miserable and pathetic. "Was the fact that they were _mistreating_ the students there." Her eyes glossed over with pain, as whatever hurtful memories echoed through her heavy head. "I was there for two weeks, before the school was shut down. Apparently one of the princess' worked up the nerve to confess to her parents what had really been going on at that school. And just like that St. Olga's Reform School was condemned and its staff was arrested, all except its leader, Miss Heinous who somehow managed to escape capture. And I, the poor broken princess, was sent home to my loving parents, who had been so ashamed of my behavior they had sent me away to _that_ awful place." Star felt a tear fall down her cheek but she continued on.

"And then, to make matters worse, a few years later, I was left in charge of the kingdom, suddenly thrust with so much unwanted responsibility and a wand to boot and my life became even more difficult and stressful than ever before. A-And just now my parents told me that... that... Miss Heinous was spotted again over in a nearby kingdom and I-I-I just..." Star's voice drifted off as she suddenly sobbed, unable to hold the tears back any longer, letting them fall freely down her face as she wept, all the pain, suffering, and stress melting off of her in hurt-filled waves, as she buried her face in her hands. She continued on for several minutes, her whole body shuddering beneath her sobs, till she felt a hand on her shoulder, bracing herself for that same sympathetic stare that everyone had given her at least once since the incident. How she hated that look. Feeling more pathetic and broken with every new face that gave it to her. They all looked at her like she was a kicked puppy, looking lost as they tried desperately to think of something to say to cheer her up. And if there was one person she would have given anything to not see that look on, it was Marco. Her sweet, amazing, adorable bestie. She wasn't sure if she could handle seeing that look from him.

But she had to, his hand tightening on her shoulder, as she slowly pulled her tear-streaked face out of her hands and turned to the boy. But as she looked deep into Marco's brown eyes, she was surprised to see a different look shining in his own blurry-filled vision: understanding. Star wasn't sure how, but the look he was giving her reflected not an empty gesture to comfort the fragile princess, but a real, true understanding of exactly what she was going through, as if he had felt it himself before.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Star," Marco said, his own voice chocking up, but to Star it sounded the strongest it had ever been, feeling a bizarre sense of comfort with it. "I'm honestly not sure what to tell you. I wish I had some great words of wisdom or whatever, but I don't. What happened to you was awful and hard to forget, believe me I get it. But y'know since I met you, I never thought you were broken. I think you're amazing. So strong and brave and kind. You've been my inspiration, since like, day one. I mean, you can shoot flaming rainbow into the sky, you can work for hours, running a kingdom all by yourself and never complain once about it, and I've seen first-hand how you help every person you come across without ever expecting anything in return, you've helped and protected me in ways I couldn't even begin to repay, and I think you are the most beautiful, most talented girl in this, or any other, dimension. And I don't care what your parents or Miss What's-her-name or anyone else says, I think you are perfect exactly the way you are."

Star gave him a long, blank look, her mouth dropped open, her breathing still slightly shallow from crying. She couldn't believe it, she absolutely couldn't believe what she had heard, the words tumbling around her frazzled mind trying to make sense of it. She had been terrified that if Marco were to know the truth about her, to find out how broken and useless she really was, he would grow to see her differently, treating her like some fragile, helpless little girl like everyone else had when she had returned from St. O's. But in truth, his opinion hadn't changed of her in the slightest, he still saw her as the same magical princess who he had been so enchanted by he had fallen out of a tree, as the girl who he had been so grateful to he had gone out of his way to find her a present he thought she might like, as the girl he had risked his own life for and conquered his fears to save, as his bestie who he had been so eager to spend time with in any amounts he was willing to stay up all night to help her, as the girl he had danced with under the bright spotlight just that last night, the two spending a beautiful, blissful moment lost in one another's eyes and warmth. And Star felt a deep, strong sense of comfort with that fact, the heavy burden lifting off her shoulders as she realized that she wasn't the broken princess she thought she was, she was exactly what Marco saw her to be, finally feeling confident in her own skin after what had felt like years. It no longer mattered what had happened to her back then, it didn't matter what anyone else thought of her, let them think whatever they wanted, as long as Marco could see her that way, then she could to. Maybe she wasn't broken, maybe she was exactly what she needed to be, strong.

She surprised Marco, as she threw her arms around him in a hug, burying her head deep into his shoulder, squeezing him tight, needing to feel his warmth, craving the feeling of him against her. She took a deep, shaky breath, muttering, "Thank you. Thank you so much, Marco." She sobbed once, a single tear sliding down her cheek, but this was a tear of joy and relief, a smile slowly appearing on her face. "I really needed to hear that."

"Your welcome, Star," Marco replied, hugging her tightly, running a hand through her soft, blond hair. "Just returning the favor."

Star laughed, pulling away from the boy, her voice still choked up and raw, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Y'know it's funny hearing you say all those things, because that's exactly how I feel about you."

"Really?" Marco asked, in his adorable confusion, looking legitimately surprised by this news.

"Yeah, you're _my_ inspiration, Marco, I don't know what I would do without you." The boy smiled, as they hugged once again.

And as they hugged for the second time, Star came to a single, solitary conclusion, a realization that in one second changed her world completely and yet somehow changed nothing at all. Her heart and head for once coming to the same agreement, as Oskar's words came flooding back to her at once, the answer to her own question rippling through every fiber of her being, her brain echoing the same thought over and over again. _I do have a crush on him._

 **And that's that! I hope you all liked this one. It was a pretty fun one to write, well except the ending, I actually got teary eyed writing that last third, but wow I think it turned out very well. Course I might be a bit biased. I hope nobody had guessed the twist about St. O's, but if you did that's fine, I tried not to make it too obvious but it's hard to tell from your own writing.**

 **Anyways did anyone see the Blood Moon a few weeks back. I DID! Somehow, miraculously, I was up early enough to see it (and no I didn't stay up all night by myself just to see the object of Star and Marco's affection come to real life, hah, don't be silly, I kept my whole family up to see it) and man am I glad I did. It was quite a sight, though because I'm a dork I actually did turn turn to my family and shout, "Oh no, guys! We have to find Star!" Which was quickly followed by questioning looks from my family and me laughing my head off at my own joke. Man, good times.**

 **Oh and before I forget, I'm actually helping co-write a story with my friend and fellow writer 7lights13darknesses. (And by co-write I mean help him come up with ideas and stuff for his stories, since he does most of the actual writing) He's actually beta read some of my stuff in the past, but he now does some fanfictions of his own for his favorite show Loud House. But his newest one "Loud Hearts" based on the video game Kingdom Hearts features our favorite magical princess and her hoodie wearing bestie (which I totally didn't insist on) as well as characters from other shows and such. Anyways, if you feel like it please check it out, he's a pretty new writer but he does a great job and since he went out of his way to recommend me I had to return the favor! Thanks 7L13D you're the best!**

 **So I have to go but, I hope you all have a wonderful, magical two weeks and I will see you all next time. Keep being as awesome as ever Stardom!**

 **Now onto the reviews!**

 **Gamelover41592- Well I'm so glad to hear you liked it! It's one of my favorite chapters and yeah that ending was pretty great, so happy with how it turned out. Hmmm, I don't know how long Marco can hold out, especially with Toffee closing in, guess we'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Sugar- Thanks! Glad to hear you liked the dance, especially since it was my very first time and I'm so glad to hear you liked Oskar. I really enjoyed his part in the story and I wanted him to have a bigger purpose than just the love interest for Star that gets in the way of everything. Speaking of not love interests, I really knew I needed to have Jackie do something to defend herself, not just stand there and wait for someone to rescue her. She's too strong and independent for that. And yes Marco did end up needing to step in the way, but if the rolls were reversed I think Jackie would have done the same. All of the friends, Star and Janna included, look out for each other as best as they can, that's just the kind of friendship they have. And yes, Marco is too cute, I go out of my way to make him as adorable as can be, always with good results!**

 **Dex Cipher- Yep, enough stalling it's time to go straight into the thick of it... just as soon as we get there. ;) I'm just kidding! Yeah things will be taking off really soon, like _really_ soon, but I do have to admit this chapter may not be exactly what you are expecting. Don't get me wrong, this is a very much needed chapter and I love it, but I needed one focusing away from the slowly advancing danger and give a little more development to some things before that could happen. Still I hope you enjoy! **

**Zeldex72- Great! I'm so glad to hear that! You are too sweet!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	14. Questions With No Answers

Chapter 13: Question with no Answer

 **Hello again, Stardom! So good to see you all! I hope you all had a great two weeks! And I hope everyone saw the awesome new episode of Star vs. It was so amazing! I meant to post this yesterday, the day of, but I've been feeling a little under the weather and basically took last week off, so I just didn't have it done in time. Plus, my laptop is still giving me trouble so I'm basically without internet and having to post from my friend's computer. :( *sighs* But hey, I'm feeling much better now and I'm saving up for a new computer, so it's all good. Anyways, thanks for all the favorites, follows, and comments they mean the world to me and make writing a pleasure! So thanks friends and I will leave you all to it.**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"Mr. Candle?" Marco called, banging his fist as firmly against the door as he could in an attempt to draw the make-shift counselor out of his office. "Mr. Candle I really need to speak to you! It's important!" the boy tried again, but there was no response and Marco sighed in defeat.

"Where is he?" Marco asked himself, before noticing the note hanging above the door, reading : _Gone away on important business. Will return indefinitely_. The boy sighed loudly. "What does that even mean?" he asked, feeling at a loss of what to do now. He had really needed some guidance, his life feeling way too complicated right now without Mr. Candle's help.

First, there was the monsters and whatever checkered past everyone seemed to be keeping secret from him. It was getting harder and harder not to tell somebody about the incident, his mind almost constantly plagued by his troubling thoughts, always fearful someone would discover the truth. But the boy had no idea where to even begin to unravel the mystery and make sense of the disjointed puzzle pieces, his only hope being that somehow Mr. Candle might be able to help him out, the boy willing to include him in on his secret if it meant figuring all this out. But it seemed like it was a dead end, the boy now back to square one with no backup plan to go off of.

And then, there was Star. It had been a few days since the Orphan's Ball and the last he had really seen of the girl had been that long, disheartening confession about her past suffering, not exactly the most pleasant memory shared with his bestie. Though she didn't seem torn up over it anymore (which he was grateful for) she had seemed awfully distant of late, as she had seemed to throw herself into her work with raw determination, which Marco should be proud of her for, if it wasn't for the fact that if Marco didn't know any better he would swear she was avoiding him. Which he was starting to wonder if she was, the little time the two shared together Star kept herself at a distance, very rarely making eye contact and seeming like she was forcing her voice to sound more formal and uptight around him. He didn't mention it, partially because he thought it might all be in his head and partially because he figured if she was acting that way it was only because she was feeling awkward after telling him her darkest secret. So now Marco wasn't sure what to do or say or even if he should do or say anything, terrified he might set her off again or make it worse.

Marco sighed loudly as he walked off down the hall, looking defeated as he buried his hands in his hood pockets, his eyes glazed over with depression, that was until he spotted a girl a short distance away. She was leaning out a window, looking through a pair of binoculars with a smile on her face. Marco curious, decided to stand beside her, his eyes following her own lingering gaze, as he realized he was looking out into the lush palace gardens, feeling quite surprised when he spotted Star talking to the gardener about something. Confused, he tried to see any other points of interest below, but the girl was definitely watching Star, her gaze matching up with her perfectly. "Oh my gosh, are you Marco?" The boy swerved as he saw that the girl had finally noticed him next to her, lowering the binoculars enough so that Marco was finally able to get a good look at her.

The girl in front of him was not a maid or servant, at least not one he had ever seen. She was a teenager, about Marco's age, with short black hair done up in twin ponytails, a pair of obviously fake horns pocking up at the top of her head. She wore thick, red wire-framed glasses, her eyes shining with wonder as she stared at Marco with huge grin on her face, showing off her braces. Her face was covered in small heart dots, though Marco couldn't tell if they were stickers or some kind of Mewman-based acne, her real purple hearts contorting as she gave the boy a wide, creepy grin. She wore a plain purple t-shirt with fake wings glued to her back, a little star printed on the front, a blue skirt and dark purple leggings, matched with a pair of purple sneakers.

"Umm, yes. Who are you?" he asked, cautiously looking her up and down.

"Oh my gosh," the girl replied, pulling a camera out of nowhere and taking a picture of Marco, rendering the boy blind for a moment as the flash made Marco flinch at the sudden intrusion on his senses. "I can't believe Star took another one of them in, I mean she's just the coolest!" she continued, looking at the digital render of the photo on her camera.

Marco rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision, before staring at the girl with a lost look. "What are you-"

"And look," the girl said, turning the camera so Marco could now see the digital photos as she sorted through them. "I have a whole bunch of pictures of you with Star, like this one," the camera showed a picture of Marco trying on one of his prized hoodies, Star giving him an approving smile, a sloth taking his measurements behind him, though part of the picture was obscured by what seemed to be a piece of fabric in the way.

"Wait was that in Quest Buy?" Marco asked in shock.

"Uh huh," the girl replied, before flipping to another picture. "Oh, oh, here's one with you in it." The girl was right, Marco was in this shot as well, collapsed into Star's arms holding her tightly as behind them a group of panicked guards tried to put out a flaming corn field. Again the picture was slightly obscured, this time by what seemed to be the inside of a bush.

But before Marco had a chance to comment the girl had already gone on to the next picture. "And here's one of you two hugging, and here's another one of you two hugging, and here's well... you're hugging in most of them." Marco blinked as picture after picture flashed by on the small screen, every single one showing Star and Marco together (hugging mostly) and all of them either blocked by something or far out of range, as if the girl was taking them from odd locations.

"How did you get all of these?" Marco asked, trying to recount ever seeing the complete stranger in front of him before.

"Oh I sneak in here all the time," she said simply, never taking her eyes off her camera as she continued to flip through picture after picture.

"But aren't there guards and stuff?"

"Yeah, but I can sneak past them pretty easily, I have all of their routines completely memorized, as well as Star's complete princess schedule. It's really nothing for Star's biggest fan. I mean they don't call me StarFan13 for nothing."

 _Star has fans_ , Marco thought. _And one of them actually calls herself StarFan13?_ But what he actually said was, "Isn't that kinda dangerous?"

The fan girl shrugged. "It's worth the risk to get to see Star."

Unfortunately, as strange as it was, Marco was inclined to agree, guards or not, he would do pretty much anything himself if it was for Star. Still this did seem a bit weirder considering Star wasn't aware of the almost constant presence following her all through her day it seemed. "Does Star know about this?" Marco asked.

"Of course! Star knows everything!" the girl replied with admiration, looking up some from her camera as her eyes twinkled. This did ease Marco's mind a little.

"Wait look!" StarFan screamed, grabbing onto Marco and pulling him closer so he could see what she was seeing, the two now watching as Star used her wand to try and repair a couple of flowers and plants that had apparently been destroyed, Marco noticing that the spot looked like the same one he and Star had been at the night of the dance. The girl took this opportunity to snap a couple of pictures of Star's incredible display, Marco's eyes just shining in admiration as his bestie confidently waved her wand, instantly repairing all damages done to the flora around her.

"Wow, Star is so amazing!" Marco sighed.

"Oh my gosh, yes! And now I have even more pictures of Star using her magic!"

"Can I see?" Marco asked excitedly, holding out a hand for the camera. StarFan nodded vigorously, handing over the camera.

"Sure just be careful not to-" There was a bright flash, Marco screaming as he went blind once again, nearly losing hold of the camera. "-blind yourself," she finished needlessly.

Marco waited until his vision cleared, before looking over all the photos, impressed with how many shots he was able to take of his bestie. "Wow these are all really good, StarFan!" He paused, the name still sounding somewhat fake and strange to him. But he quickly snapped out of it, as soon as the next picture rendered. "Oooh, here's one of the dance!" Marco's eyes shined as he stared at a picture of him and Star all dressed up, twirling around the room, a bright light making both of them glow, the smile on Star's face, making Marco's whole chest flutter. "Wow, she looks so beautiful," he said to himself, more than to the fan girl looking over his shoulder.

"That is one of my absolute favorite pieces," StarFan said, proudly. "See everyone else got their pictures from their magic mirrors, but I actually got mine in real life."

"Well, it all looks great!" Marco praised, handing the camera back over to the hyper girl. "You've got a picture of pretty much everything here."

"Awww, that's so sweet of you to say," StarFan said blushing. "Now all I need is one of you and Star kissing and my collection will pretty much be complete!"

Marco blinked. _Kiss?_ "What's that?" Marco asked the girl, his curiosity peaked. He was sure he had never heard the word before, but it sounded like it was something he should be doing with Star.

StarFan's mouth dropped open in shock, leaning in super close to the boy, making him feel instantly unsettled. "Oh my gosh, you don't know what that is?!" she asked, unable to hide her joy as her eyes started to shimmer, Marco practically able to see the wheels turning in her head.

"Ummm, no..." he asked hesitantly, feeling put-off by the girl's bizarre behavior. "Should I?"

Before StarFan could respond, the two teens heard the sound of shuffling feet, echoing off the cold stone steps, and a voice yell, "I think she went this way?!"

"She's not getting away this time!" another voice shouted, sounding close. There was a short moment of silence between the two, as Marco and StarFan shared a quick look, the fan girl still ridiculously close to the boy, who was leaning back awkwardly. Then suddenly she shouted, "Gotta go!" snapping another picture of the boy, the boy going blind for the third time that day, rubbing his eyes as he tried to clear his vision.

Meanwhile, StarFan13 quickly ran over to the nearest laundry shoot, throwing it open and jumping down, sliding all the way to the subbasement, where no doubt Sir Lavabo would be awaiting her for three o'clock tea.

The guards finally made it around the corner, Dex (who was in the lead) took the opportunity to pounce the intruder, knocking both of them to the ground, the trespasser releasing a girlie scream on the way down. "Ha," the guard gloated his victory, turning his captive over onto their back, grinning ear to ear with satisfaction. "We got you this time, you little- MARCO?!"

Dex did a double take as he saw not the face of their frequent girl intruder, but instead the princess' young hoodie wearing friend, looking dizzy and dazed from getting thrown uncomfortably to the ground. Jak and the rest of the guards caught up with their companion, Jak's mouth dropping open in shock. "Marco! You're the intruder!"

Dex sighed, face-palming. "No, Jak, we got the wrong person," he explained, standing to his feet and helping the flustered boy up. "Sorry about that, Marco. We thought you were someone else." He tried to dust the boy off as best as he could, Marco just blinking as he tried to get his still-spotty vision back.

"Ugh, what hit me?" he asked groggily, rubbing the back of his head tenderly.

"Dex did," Jak explained, his fellow guard shooting him a glare.

"Did you happen to see a young girl pass through here?" another guard asked the flustered boy.

"Ummm..." Marco considered telling the guards the truth but thought better of it, not wanting to get the girl in any trouble. "No. Haven't seen anyone. Just been standing here, alone, in this hallway... all by myself." He gave them a wide grin, chuckling nervously, every guard raising their eyebrows suspiciously, except for Jak who simply nodded in understanding. "Okay let us know if you see anything," he said.

"Well," Dex sighed. "Looks like we'll just have to continue our search elsewhere. Come on, guys."

With that, the guards marched off, preparing to search another part of the castle, leaving Marco on his own. He looked out the window surprised to see Star had already left, the gardener returning to his normal tasks, the royal moving on to her next pressing matter. His thoughts were blubbing around in his head, trying to make sense of the new word the girl had mentioned to him. What was a kiss anyways? He felt a need to know, needed at least one of his pestering questions to finally be answered. If he couldn't learn anything else that day, at least he could find out what that word meant. Marco smiled to himself.

And he knew just the person to ask.

…

"What's a kiss?"

Jackie did a spit take, spewing her drink half-way across the room, Marco flinching at the strange reaction from his normally calm skater friend. She coughed for a second trying to clear her tight airways, her face the picture of startled. "W-What?!" Jackie managed to cough out. The two had sat down for a quick bite to eat at Marco's favorite restaurant, the hooded boy asking her if he could talk to her about something, alone. Or, more specifically, without Janna, the hooded boy concerned about how his creepy friend would react to his question, even though it seemed he should have been more concerned about how Jackie would react. Then again he had blurted it out the second the two had gotten comfortable, his bad timing putting Jackie half-way between a gulp of water, making her choke on her drink from the unexpected question.

"A-A kiss," Marco repeated, leaning a little away from the white-haired girl, looking both confused and a little grossed out by her reaction.

"Umm," the two turned to see Kelly standing over their table, holding a tray of food, giving Jackie a concerned look. "Is everything alright here?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks Kelly," the boy responded cheerfully, Jackie still too busy coughing to answer.

"Really?" Kelly said, raising an eyebrow at the boy. "Cause your friend just sprayed one of the other customers." The girl pointed to a dripping wet Mewman behind her, both Marco and Jackie giving her sheepish looks.

"Miss!" the Mewman yelled to Kelly. "Towel please!"

"In a second, sir," Kelly politely responded, shooting him a smile before turning back to her two friends.

"Sorry for the trouble," Jackie apologized, having finally gotten her throat clear.

"Yeah, it was more my fault than anything," Marco added, rising from his seat and grabbing his napkin. "If you want I can help you-"

Kelly silenced him, grabbing onto the boy's arm. "That's not necessary. Cleaning up other people's messes is my job. Just maybe be a little more careful next time, okay?" She eyed them both, questioningly. Jackie and Marco nodded, the boy taking his seat once again.

"Misssss!" the customer yelled rudely, quickly becoming upset at being ignored. "Towel?!"

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable, some people," she muttered under her breath, before turning back to the customer with a smile. "I will be with you in just a moment, sir. A little patience, please."

"But I'm soaking wet!"

"And I'm in the middle of a conversation," she responded, her voice losing some of its sweetness. "So please wait your turn." The man crossed his arms, huffing with annoyance.

"Not much for customer service, are you?" Jackie asked, trying to hide her smile.

"Well it has been a day," Kelly sighed, leaning against the table. "And despite the fact that both me and Tad technically work here, I always end up covering his shift for him."

"Where is Tad?" Marco asked, looking around.

"Same place he always is," Kelly said, her eyes jumping up to the top of her head, Jackie and Marco just now noticing the snoring face of Kelly's boyfriend.

"You could always wake him up, y'know," Jackie pointed out.

"Yeah I know, but he's so adorable when he's sleeping," Kelly said, with a loving sigh. "Besides at this rate, I'll be promoted to head chef in no time."

"Wait, you're a cook!" Marco shouted, excitedly.

"Yep," Kelly said, proudly. "Someday soon... hopefully. I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with rude customers like that guy." She pointed behind her.

"I can still hear you!" the Mewman yelled with annoyance.

"Mind your own business!" the girl shot back.

"H-Huh?" Tad groggily said, all the yelling waking him from his slumber. "What's up, babe? Is our shift over?"

"No, Tad," Kelly said sweetly, shooting her boyfriend a sugary smile. "Just some jerky customer."

"HEY!" the customer screamed.

"Want me to take care of it for you, so you can talk to your friends," Tad offered, the two ignoring the Mewman's outburst.

"Really, would you?" Kelly asked, with a relived sigh.

"Sure, babe. Anything for you." With that, Tad floated off to try and console the angered customer.

"So anyways, what were you two talking about?" Kelly asked, taking the opportunity of a break to get a quick sip of water.

"Oh right," Marco said, regaining focus on their conversation once again. "I was just asking Jackie what a kiss was."

Kelly spit out her drink, coating the already soaked Mewman with more liquid, as Tad needlessly tried to dab it up with a towel. "Oh come on!" the man screamed, rising out of his seat and sloshing out of the restaurant.

But the attention returned to the skater once again, as the door slammed shut and Tad went back to moping up the mess, both teens eyes digging into her skin, awaiting her answer. "Well..." Jackie started, trying to think of the best way to respond.

"Don't you think you're asking the wrong person?" Kelly pointed out, interrupting Jackie. The white-haired girl gave her a questioning look, until the other shot her a wink.

"What do you mean?" Marco asked, not seeing the little exchange between the girls.

"Well, no offense to Jackie or anything, but this just seemed like something you would be asking Star," Kelly said with a shrug.

"You think?" Marco asked, cocking his head to the side.

"She does have a point," Jackie said, playing along. "She would explain it much better than I ever could."

"Well I was going to ask her," the boy explained. "But she's been so busy lately."

"Come on, she can't work twenty-four seven. Isn't there some time you two could just sit and talk?" Kelly asked.

Marco thought for a moment, before realization hit him, jumping out of his seat and slamming his hands down on the table. "What time is it?!" Marco asked, looking between the two girls quickly, who had leaned back away from the table and were giving him confused looks from his sudden outburst. Kelly partially recovered, as she pulled out her cell phone, checking the time. "Umm, almost seven," she said.

"It'll be sunset soon," Jackie added, catching on what Marco was onto.

"I gotta go," Marco said hurriedly, excusing himself as he headed for the door.

"Wait, you haven't even ordered anything yet!" Kelly yelled after the boy.

"No time!" Marco shouted back, not even bothering to look back. The rushing boy slammed the door to the restaurant open, which accidentally knocked into one of the empty outside tables, sending one of the discarded drinks flying, where it landed directly in the face of the same drenched Mewman from before. Marco yelled a quick apology over his shoulder, his eyes on the darkening sky in front of him and his thoughts on Star. The victimized Mewman released a loud scream, yelling in frustration, "That's it! I'm going back to the Kingdom of Unlikely Spider Bites, where it's safe!" With that the frustrated Mewman stormed away, leaving a trail of liquefied footprints in his wake.

Meanwhile, inside Jackie and Kelly just stared at the restaurant door, Kelly in clear shock. "Well that was certainly strange, even for Marco," Kelly said, trying to break the tension. "Where's he off to in such a hurry?"

"He and Star meet up every evening to watch the sunset together," Jackie explained.

"Aww," Kelly cooed. "How romantic. No one wonder he took off in such a hurry."

"Yep," Jackie agreed. "But do me a favor and don't mention our little conversation to Janna."

Kelly hesitated before answering. "Wellll, that's gonna be a little bit difficult," she finally said, shooting the skater a guilty look.

Jackie gave her hairy friend a blank stare, before saying in an unamused tone. "She's been here the whole time, hasn't she?"

"Yep!" Janna said, setting down in the seat next to Jackie's with a smirk, putting her feet up on the table and leaning precariously back in the chair. "She has."

"You were spying on us," Jackie said, in a scolding tone, which caused Janna to scoff.

"Not much spying needed. I could hear you three from the other side of the restaurant," she said, munching on a breadstick.

"So I suppose you want me to give you the twenty bucks right now," Jackie said.

"You could," Janna said with an unamused shrug. "Or we could go see how our little set-up pays off."

Jackie gave the smirking girl a level-headed stare, the two matching wits for a moment, before Jackie questioned, "Ours?"

"Who do you think told me to come over here in the first place?" Kelly pointed out, putting a hand on her hips, Jackie shooting Janna a glare. "Which by the way, about my payment?" Kelly added, with a hinting tone.

"No worries, Kells. I'll get you that forbidden recipe you asked for," Janna said, shooting the green-haired girl a reassuring smile.

"Uh babe, little help?" Tad called, surrounded by hungry customers all begging and demanding supplement from the usually chill hair, who was now feeling overwhelmed with too much responsibility.

"Welp, duty calls," Kelly said to the two, confidently pulling out her pen and paper with a flourish. "So will you be taking your order to go, ladies?"

Jackie and Janna shared a look, the creepy girl giving her reluctant roommate a shrug, letting her know it was her call. Jackie took a deep breath, before giving the young waitress her answer.

...

The sun had already begun to set as Marco made it up to the large balcony he and Star always met at, surprised to see the girl already there. Star seemed like she was in a daze, her eyes lost in the bright red of the evening sky, never even turning to indicate she heard him as he approached. "Hey Star!" he greeted, placing a hand on her shoulder. She screamed smacking his hand away and turning, wand already glowing with magic energy. But upon seeing the startled face of her bestie, she instantly dropped her guard, putting a hand to her pounding heart.

"Marco, please don't sneak up on me like that!" she managed to choke out, in between gasps of breath.

"S-Sorry," Marco apologized, still slightly unnerved by Star's reaction. "Your getting better with it, though," he added and Star gave him a quizzical look.

"Better with what?"

"Your wand," he explained, pointing at the magical device. "You seem a lot more confident with it now."

Star gave him a shy smile, immediately hiding the heirloom inside her cloud purse. "Well I don't know if I'd say that," she muttered, her cheeks just barely tinted pink, giving a nervous shrug. But she was rendered speechless as Marco took her hands into his own, giving her a smile that sent shivers down her spine. "I would," he said softly, his bright brown eyes staring deep into her own, making her whole heart flutter. _Knock it off, Star_ , she mentally scolded herself. _Before he catches on._

"Thanks," she squeaked with embarrassment, trying to will her blush away, but it only made it worsen as Marco took the seat next to her, Star able to feel the warmth coming off of him, just the slightest bit of space between them... _Stop,_ she reminded herself, trying to convince her heart to slow it's pulse to a more normal level.

She had been like this ever since the other night, since she realized her feelings toward her bestie, every little interaction from the boy leaving her a nervous, fluttering mess. She had done her best to keep a distance from him, well as much as she could from her super clingy Marco, still feeling unsure with all the new (or perhaps they were old) emotions she now had toward her best friend. Oskar's words never once left her mind, his suggestion to tell the boy outright making her feel lost. She did want to tell him, now that she knew her feelings for him were real, but she wasn't sure how. She was having trouble working up the nerve to do so, her constant blushing and fast-beating heart making it very difficult to say anything around him now, much less confessing she had a giant crush on him.

Still he didn't seem to notice, acting like his normal, cheerful self as he settled himself down next to her, his eyes shining as he stared at the red, fast-darkening sky before him, his hand absentmindedly landing on her own, making Star's whole arm tingle with the sensation of his soft skin. But she made no move to stop him, just letting herself enjoy the moment, her heart slowing a little as the two just watched the sunset in silence.

What Star didn't notice was Marco kept casting glances at her every so often, trying to work up the nerve to ask her the one question that was on his mind, wanting to avoid Jackie's reaction if at all possible, best to ease her into it gently. The problem was, he had no idea how to go about doing that.

Finally, he took a deep breath. "Star?"

Star jumped at the sound of her name, turning to see Marco staring at her with a questioning gaze and she felt her heart thump away in her chest once again, threatening to escape her small frame. "Y-Yes?"

"So, I met someone today, a girl, StarFan13, she said she knew you," he started, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Oh yeah," Star said thoughtfully, nodding, remembering her biggest fan who she often caught sneaking into the castle, she was sweet and well-meaning but she could come on a little strong to people who didn't know her all that well. Star hoped she hadn't been too much for Marco. "I do know her," she hesitantly admitted. "She can be a bit..." Star bit her lip, trying to think of the best way to phrase it. "Crazy. I hope she didn't act too wild."

Marco shook his head. "Nah. She was pretty cool, actually," he admitted with a shrug. "Strangeee, but cool."

Star smiled. _Of course he liked her_ , Star thought, remembering that Marco was always friendly and open-minded, if a bit shy, towards others. _Should have never have doubted him_.

"Anyway, she said something to me and I wanted to ask you what it meant," he continued slowly, looking anxious about telling the girl, Star able to feel his fingers nervously twitching from on top of her own.

 _Oh no,_ Star thought, feeling slightly concerned. Could she have told him about Star's crush? She did always seem to know everything about Star, a fact she would not hesitate to point out. Or worse, could she have told him something about the monsters? Though if she had, she doubted Marco would be acting like his usual, cheerful self. "O-Okay, shoot," she said, with a tiny nod, a lump implanting itself tightly at the back of her throat. The boy took a deep breath, obviously preparing himself to ask the question, Star unknowingly holding her own.

"I was wondering what a kiss was?" he explained, keeping a close eye on her for any negative or strange reaction. But the girl had no reaction at all, her whole body freezing up, her eyes wide, but blank, and her mouth sealed shut. She was obviously not expecting the question, as her whole face grew redder than his hoodie.

"W-What?!" she finally stuttered, her face retaining its red hue.

"Umm, a kiss," he tried again, sounding even less sure now than before. "She asked me if I had kissed anyone yet, and I wasn't sure what she meant by it." He purposely left out the part about Star, unsure about mentioning it to her for some reason. There was an awkward pause as Star just stared at him blankly. "Sooo, do you know what it means?" he pressed, feeling awkward and impatient in a strange mix.

"Y-Yeah, right," Star finally said, recovering some from her initial shock, managing to will her blush away some and form comprehensible words once more, trying not to act too thrown off guard by the unexpected question. "It's when two people put their lips up against one another," she quickly added, mentally trying to calm her racing heart.

Marco's mouth dropped open, his eyes wide with fear. "Does it... hurt?" he asked, with concern and Star couldn't help but laugh at his cuteness, feeling some of the awkwardness fading some as a familiar warmth filled her insides.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's supposed to feel good, actually. It's a way for people to show how much they care."

"Oh," was all Marco said, his brain trying to wrap itself around this new information. "Have you ever kissed anyone before?" he finally asked, his brown eyes studying her face quizzically, making it hard for her to breath.

Star hesitated, before answering. "No, I haven't actually."

"Why is that?" Marco asked, sounding genuinely confused and Star merely shrugged in response.

"Haven't found the right person yet," she answered, while in her head she added, _Except for you, but I'm too afraid to ask._ Star grew quiet after that, trying not to think of how much she wanted to kiss him right then, the urge almost overwhelming as her gaze remained trapped within Marco's bright brown eyes, feeling a pull toward him and his soft, smiling lips, already beginning to close the distance between them. But she finally regained control of herself, pulling away from him quickly and turning back out to the fast-setting sun, her smile dropping instantly, feeling anger at herself, though she was unsure what she was more upset about: the fact that she had just tried to kiss her friend or the fact that she hadn't had the guts to go through with it.

Marco took a long look at his bestie, unable to stop himself from worrying over her and her strange behavior. Maybe it was just him, but a second ago, she had seemed like she was leaning in toward him. But before she could go through with whatever it was, she had instead turned away, pulling her hand out of his grasp and refusing to meet his eyes, staring out at the sun with a troubled look in her own eyes, leaving Marco concerned she was upset. "Star?" he said, trying to regain her attention, but she didn't even turn her head in his direction.

"The sunset is really beautiful tonight, huh?" she whispered nervously, giving a little awkward chuckle, obviously trying to change the subject, Marco instantly feeling his heart pound in response. She _was_ upset. But why? Was it because he had asked about the kiss? Was she sad because she had never gotten one? It was obviously something special, considering how all the girl's had reacted at the mere mention of the act, was Star feeling hurt and unappreciated because no one had given her one yet? Marco definitely didn't want her to feel that way, she was so special and amazing, and she deserved to know that.

"Star?" Marco said again, softer than before, this time managing to capture the girl's attention as she looked over to him. And as the two locked gaze once more, Marco found himself lost in his friend's bright, blue orbs, as a gentle breeze sent her golden hair tumbling behind her, the light of the red sky reflecting off of it beautifully, making his heart skip a beat.

"What is it, Marco?" Star asked, stunned by the determination she saw in his eyes. But he didn't answer, instead taking in a deep, shaky breath before he leaned in toward her, closing the distance between them completely.

Time seemed to slow as Marco's lips enclosed around Star's, the girl's eyes widening in surprise, unable to believe that this was really happening to her, that her best friend, her crush, her Marco was kissing her. It felt unreal, almost like some big dream. But dream or not, Star couldn't deny it felt amazing, loving every second of the breathtaking experience, relishing in the taste of Marco's lips against her own. And so rather than fight it, she gave in, closing her eyes and losing herself to the new and wonderful experience.

Marco as well, was loving every second of the kiss, that same, warm emotion that he had been feeling for weeks, now spread through him, making his whole body tingle and his heart feel like it might burst with joy. He felt amazing, his every nerve alive and super-charged, his brain sluggish and slow, unable to function as Star's lips began to move gently against his own. Both were so caught up in their combined act that neither noticed their twin hearts and suns simultaneously glow white, the bright light matching that of the forgotten sunset behind them.

Finally, after what felt to the two like a lifetime, Star pulled away, putting a hand to her tingling lips, her eyes wide and her cheeks still blushing bright red. As the two separated, their cheek marks returned to their normal hue, both too dazed by what just transpired to even notice. For a few glorious seconds, they just stared at each other, a million emotions flowing through both of their startled bodies at once.

But Star recovered first (kinda), asking in a breathless daze, "What was that?!"

"I-" Marco started, but found his throat too tight to continue, his eyes wider than ever, just staring at Star's blushing face, completely stunned, all his startled brain able to think, was how great that kiss had felt and how much he wanted to do it again. "You said you'd never had one, so I just thought..."

Star was stupefied, unable to believe that that had actually just happened. Marco had just kissed her! After all that time of fighting the urge, Marco had been the one to make the first move. It felt crazy, it felt insane, it had to be a dream. And yet, the tingling in her lips and pounding in her heart seemed to prove that all of this was real. Marco was her first kiss! She felt overwhelmed, her heart threatening to overflow with all the emotions running rampant through her fragile body. She needed to get away, needed time to think and work out her feelings and slow her racing heart and she couldn't do that with the boy's bright stare burning into her skin. Without even thinking, she jumped to her feet, keeping her eyes off of the boy as she muttered with embarrassment, "I-I have to go. It's getting late. See you tomorrow."

Before the boy could even respond, the girl turned and ran, disappearing from view as she exited off the balcony, leaving the flustered boy alone with his thoughts.

He hesitated for a moment, maybe two, his legs so wobbly and unstable it took him a bit before he was able to stand again, as he started off after the girl, her reaction unexpected and slightly confusing to the boy. Was that a normal way girls acted after you kissed them? Regardless if it was, he needed to catch up to her and make sure everything was okay.

"Marco."  
Marco froze instantly recognizing the voice behind him, as he slowly turned, shocked as he looked into the three familiar faces he had been sure he would never see again. There, hovering over him, was Beard Deer, Bearicorn, and Spikeballs, who were all giving him elated smiles.

"Guys!" Marco screamed, throwing his around the nearest monster he could find, which turned out to be Beard Deer, all thoughts ceasing in that moment, the boy just overjoyed to see his family once more. "I can't believe you're all here! How did you even find me?"

Beard Deer lovingly ruffled Marco's hair, as he simply answered, "We'd never let you go so easily."

But the sweet moment ended, as Marco backed away, feeling guilty, the three monsters sharing a look of concern, upon seeing the Mewman's sad face. "Marco, are you okay?" Bearicorn asked.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Marco muttered, keeping his eyes on the floor rather than them, trying to hide his rising tears. "Please don't hate me. I didn't mean to leave. I-"

"It's okay, Marco," Beard Deer interrupted, putting a claw on his shoulder and bending down so he was level with the boy. "We're not angry with you."

Marco sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve, looking up at the monster with hopeful eyes. "Really?"

"Of course not," Bearicorn supplied. "It's not your fault Buff Frog teamed up with the Mewmans to kidnap you."

Marco took a step back, pulling out of Beard Deer's grasp, giving all three a confused look. "What?" he squeaked, feeling a nervous energy begin to build inside him. _What were they talking about?_ "That's not... what..." His voice drifted off, his mind tumbling as he tried to make sense of it all.

"Look it's okay, everything will be alright," Beard Deer said with a reassuring smile. "We're here to take you back now."

The deer monster took a step closer, reaching out a claw, but Marco stepped back, shaking his head, shocking the three monsters, Beard Deer freezing in place. "Marco?" Bearicorn whispered, his voice shaking slightly.

Marco flinched at the hurt tone, but made no move closer. He wasn't sure what he should do, suddenly overwhelmed with decisions he didn't want to have to make. If he went back that would mean facing Toffee, Marco felt his gut clench of the thought of seeing the lizard again. And if he left, he would never see Star or the others again, that realization followed by an even tighter twist to his insides. But still, he didn't want to hurt his family. They were important to him, he had been missing them so badly, more than he had even realized. They just seemed to have their story mixed up a little, maybe if he could clear all this up for them and help them realize it was just a big misunderstanding they would let him stay.

"Look, I appreciate you guys coming all the way out here for me," the boy started, trying to keep his voice level and steady. "But I'm not in danger and I wasn't kidnapped. Buff Frog helped bring me here so I could meet the other Mewmans and now that I have I'm not sure if I want to leave. They're all really nice and... I met someone who I really don't want to leave." Marco blushed at the last bit, his eyes twinkling like his bestie's namesake, as he thought of her and the kiss they had just shared. "Speaking of which I need to catch with her so..." He turned to leave, only to stop seeing Lobster Claws and Three Eyed Potato Baby behind him, blocking his exit. He felt his heart begin to pound in fear as his realized that the monsters had just purposely surrounded him, trapping him between them. But why? "Um, guys," Marco said, trying to keep the nervous edge out of his voice. "What's going on?" He turned to Beard Deer for an explanation, but the monster in question refused to look at him, his eyes on the ground, his claws clenched into tight fists.

"So he was right after all," the deer monster muttered and Marco felt his heart stop at the seriousness in his tone, all signs of friendliness gone from the group.

"Who was right?" the boy asked.

"Those rotten Mewmans actually hypnotized you with their magic, just like Toffee said," Beard Deer continued.

"Hypnotized?" Marco whispered, his whole body trembling, taking a few steps away from the clearly upset monster. But the monsters just ignored the boy, all sharing looks with each other, an uncomfortable tension filling the area.

"What do we do?" Lobster Claws asked with clear concern, though he already knew the answer. They all did. Marco turned in the crustaceans direction, shooting him a pleading look, which the lobster did his best to ignore.

"We take him with us," Beard Deer responded, his tone hard. Before Marco could even think about the statement, Beard Deer and Bearicorn surged forward, moving so quickly that Marco didn't even have time to scream before he was lifted off the ground held firmly up by the two strong monsters. Marco became frantic as the initial shock wore off, kicking his feet uselessly above the ground, trying to break free from their iron grasp. "Let me go!" the boy screamed, his mind screeching to him to get away and his heart pounding in agreement. _Star. Jackie. Someone! Please come help me out of this!_

The other monsters tried to shush the screaming child, looking around nervously, afraid he would attract the attention of the Mewmans. "Shhh, Marco, calm down," Lobster Claws tried, but Marco was too panicked to listen.

"No! Help! Sta-!" the boy started to cry, but was quieted as Bearicorn reluctantly clapped a claw over his mouth, muffling the hooded boy's screams. The two tried to hold him as gently but firmly as possible without hurting him, but he was squirming so much they were having trouble keeping him in place.

"Marco, please," Bearicorn begged the boy, feeling guilty for scaring him so much, even if he wasn't in his right mind. "Don't make this more difficult than it has to be." But the boy continued to struggle, his muffled screams escaping from beneath the bear's paw as he desperately called out Star's name, hoping she would somehow hear him and come running, while in his mind he still couldn't believe any of this was real. One moment he had been sharing a blissful moment with his bestie, the next he was in a nightmarish situation as his own family turned on him, trying to kidnap him and forcefully drag him back to Toffee. With that thought, Marco struggled anew against the iron grasp that held him, as Beard Deer addressed the rest of the guilt-stricken monsters, trying to keep his own face from showing the hurt that was eating away at his insides, barking, "What are you idiots just standing there for, get that portal opened, asap!"

Suddenly there was a loud scream behind them, all the monster turning to see Spike Balls, collapse to the ground, as a beanie-wearing girl stood over him, her arms crossed as she glared at the group of monsters in front of her with no fear. The monsters were of course in shock at this new development, unable to believe that a tiny little girl had just knocked down their strongest monster in half a second, Marco stopped his struggling as he found himself unable to think of a time when he was happier to see his creepy friend, as Janna's eyes narrowed on the two monsters holding the boy. "Alright I'm gonna give you all two seconds to let go of my friend, before I start breaking bones," she hissed, cracking her knuckles menacingly.

None of the monster knew how to react to that, the monsters holding Marco taking an uncomfortable step back, trying to keep their fear from showing, Marco feeling their grip tighten on him slightly. "Yeah, well, it's four against one, girlie, and you're outmatched," Beard Deer stated, trying to keep his tone sharp, as he glared at the girl.

"Yeah," Lobster Claws pitched in, side-stepping between the captive Marco and his rescuer, Three Eyed Potato Baby doing the same, as the crustacean snapped his claws at the imposing girl in a threatening manner. "So why don't you just turn around and pretend like you never saw us... or else."

But Janna didn't seem at all frightened by the weak threat, as she clicked her tongue, shaking her head in disapproval, saying nonchalantly, "Guess I'm taking the 'or else'." With that she began stepping closer, every step making the monsters more and more anxious. But their anxiety was quickly replaced with disbelief as the girl's body began to transform, her hair and fangs growing in length and her skin turning purple, her narrowed eyes glowing an alarmingly green color, digging into the monsters' skin and making them all shudder.

"She's an Impure," Beard Deer said shakily, finally realizing the dire situation they had just found themselves in.

But Lobster Claws tried not to show fear as he surged forward with a yell trying to grab her with his pincers, but the girl side-stepped the attack, punching the crustacean right in the face, sending him flying backwards, the last thing the lobster thinking before he blacked was how strange it was that a girl that small could pack such a big punch. The other monsters were thinking the same thing, as they watched the lobster collapse to the floor, unconscious, the girl not even batting an eye as she turned back to the rest of the monsters with a hard glare, her eyes glowing a dark, evil green.

"Now let's try that again," the half-monster hissed, her smirking, cocky nature fading as she glared glowing daggers of hate at the group in front of her, quickly losing patience with the annoying monsters. "Let Marco go or..." She took a threatening step closer, every monster gulping in fear, but neither Beard Deer or Bearicorn released their hold on the boy, not even the threat of facing the terrifying Impure able to make them give up their young charge again.

Beard Deer looked over to Potato Baby, shouting, "What are you waiting for, idiot?! Get her!" The monster in question pointed at himself, with a look of fear, giving a confused garble. "Yes you!" Beard Deer barked, the intention in the monster's tone clearer than his words. "Keep her distracted so we can get Marco away!"

The potato-like monster turned to the girl with a new determination, willing to make the sacrifice for Marco. He stepped closer to the girl, vowing to not let her get the upper hand on him, giving a threatening and long-winded speech about protecting Marco and how he wouldn't fall so easily, which unfortunately only Marco could understand, Janna simply raising an eyebrow at the speech-inclined monster. "I have no idea what you just said," she admitted. "But you're in my way so you need to move." She got down into a fighting stance.

The monster gave a quick, declining garble.

"Okay that one I caught," she said, before she took a quick swing at the monster, her opponent barely having time to duck out of the way to avoid the super-charged fist.

The fight continued, Potato Baby struggling to hold off the girl as she continued her assault doing his best to avoid her punches and kicks trying to stall for as long as he could, while meanwhile Beard Deer turned to Bearicorn in a panic. "Quick open up a portal, now!" he hissed and Marco started to struggle again, screaming for Janna from beneath the bear monsters paw, trying his best to stall for time. "Marco, please st- OW!"

Suddenly, Beard Deer felt a heavy weight smashing into the top of his head, releasing his hold on Marco as he collapsed to his knees with a scream. He turned, anger and rage fueling him as spotted another girl this one with white hair and freckles, determination shining in her eyes. But he barely had time to process this as she swung something at his face, the world disappearing in a flash of bright colors.

Jackie took a step back, panting, as the monster fell unconscious at her feet, trying to keep her nerve as she continued to hold her skateboard up like a make-shift bat. Bearicorn, who was now struggling to keep a good hold on Marco, holding the boy only by the paw clapped over his mouth, reached over and grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her closer and making her drop her skateboard. "Hey who do you think you are?!" he growled in anger, Jackie trying to pull her arm free from the monster's iron grasp, Marco feeling anger and fear as he helplessly watched his friend getting taken too.

The hooded boy didn't even hesitate as he stomped down as hard as he could on the unsuspecting monster's foot, ignoring the short spurt of regret as the bear cried out in pain, releasing both Marco and Jackie at once, grabbing onto his now throbbing foot tightly and hopping around the battlefield, all other thoughts forgotten as he continued to scream in pain, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Owwhh! My sensitive bear paws!"

The two teens seeing their chance, turned to one another as Jackie yelled, "We got to get inside!"

"What about Janna?!" Marco asked, his answer coming a second later as they heard a garbled, pain-filled yell behind them, followed by a crashing sound. "Never mind," he corrected himself.

The two made a sprint for the door, Jackie only taking the time to grab her skateboard and tucking it securely under her arm. But this didn't go unnoticed as Bearicorn finally started to recover, the pain in his foot subsiding a little, as he spotted Marco and Jackie leaving. He growled again, about to chase after them, until he felt a tiny tap on his shoulder, turning in time to see the smirking Impure giving a little wave, her face almost friendly, her fangs gleaming in the starlight. "You don't want to do that," she said, her voice hiding just a hint of a cryptic tone.

The monster panicked, cowering in front of her, begging, "I'm sorry! Please don't suck my blood!"

The girl sighed in annoyance, rolling her eyes, as she muttered, "Where did they even come up with that rumor? That's so disgusting."

"Wait so you're not going to hurt me?" the monster asked, hopefully. But his fear returned as the girl gave him an evil smirk, leaning in a little closer to him.

"I didn't say that."

Beard Deer and Lobster Claws sat up with equally pain-filled groans, both rubbing their sore heads tenderly, as they tried to make sense of their world once again. "Owww, did we win?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud scream, the two monsters shocked as the raised voice seemed to be getting closer, both turning to see Bearicorn hurtling at them, knocking into both monsters, all three laying in a pile on the floor, groaning in pain.

Janna wiped the dust off her hands, looking quite satisfied with the condition of her opponents, saying smugly, "Well that handles that." She turned, checking on the condition of her friends, pleased to see Marco and Jackie watching safely from the doorway of the balcony, Jackie making sure to keep Marco protectively behind her, before returning to the beaten monsters. "So, boys, round two or are we going to call it quits for tonight?"

Potato Baby who had finally regained consciousness, gave a quick persuasive argument via unintelligible garble. "What did he say?" Bearicorn asked the bruised crustacean currently crushing him with a strained tone.

"He said we should retreat for now," Lobster Claws drunkenly relayed, his head still spinning from getting thrown about... twice.

"I'm with Potato Baby," Spikeballs pitched in from his position on the floor, raising a spiked hand in the air to show his agreement with the plan.

"Okay fine," Beard Deer said, pushing the other two monsters off of him so he could stand, rocking uncomfortably from side to side, as he tried to give the girl the most threatening look he could. "But don't think this is the last you'll be seeing of us. You can't hide the kid forever. Marco belongs to us and we will be taking him back."

Janna said nothing, as the monsters hastily opened up a portal, shuffling uncomfortably through it, as they all disappeared within the swirling vortex, the girl not moving an inch until it closed for good. Finally, she turned, saying to her two friends as they approached, "So..." Her quizzical eyes landed on Marco who looked quite shaken by the events, his eyes filled with emotion, his face a guilty frown, keeping his eyes on the floor as tried his best to ignore both her and Jackie's equally questioning gaze. Finally he risked a look up, his eyes locking with Janna's as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Want to explain what all that was about?"

…

The five monsters panted as they all tried to catch their breath, all of them tenderly massaging their bruises, as they contemplated their failed mission. Beard Deer grunted loudly, slamming a clawed fist into the nearest wall. "Darn it! We were so close!" he shouted in frustration.

"What do we do now?" Lobster Claws asked, worriedly. "We can't just leave Marco there."

"We're not going to," Beard Deer said confidently, refusing to give up so easily, his fist shaking with anger.

"What do we tell Master Toffee?" Bearicorn asked.

The deer monster opened his mouth to respond, only to jump hearing a voice call from the shadows, "Tell me what, Bearicorn."

Every monster turned in fear to see Toffee slither into view with a blank look, his eyes narrowing to slits on the monster he had questioned, who was becoming quite nervous with the killer's eyes on him and him alone. "T-That w-we..." Bearicorn stuttered, afraid of answering honestly.

"We failed," Beard Deer finished for him, trying to keep his nerve as the lizard turned to him. "Marco refused to come with us, he's under their control just like you said."

"Then why didn't you take him by force, like I told you you would need to," Toffee said in a hard tone, Beard Deer almost able to see him smirking from beneath his passive mask.

Beard Deer kept his face emotionless at the comment, but his claws were clenching into fists as he answered, "We tried but some of the Mewmans got the drop on us."

"One of them was an Impure," Lobster Claws pitched in helpfully.

"Really," Toffee said thoughtfully, before going silent, every monster holding their breath, afraid of what their leader was going to do to them. Finally, the lizard spoke. "Well in that case I obviously can't trust you with this mission alone. This is far too important and I can't risk another failure from all of you."

Every monster flinched at the word 'failure' but Lobster Claws risked a question. "So does this mean we're going after Marco again?"

The lizard smiled, every monster shivering as the room seemed to grow colder. "Yes. Only this time... I will personally oversee his capture."

 **Hope you all enjoyed! I told you all things would start picking up soon! Everything's going according to plan. Well for me anyways, Star and Marco... not so much. We are quickly approaching the end to part one, or season one if you will! I did really enjoy this one, especially the kiss. The kiss was great! Starco is closing in! But then again so is Toffee, soooo...**

 **It was a lot of fun to do the part with StarFan13, originally she was going to have her own chapter that was more of a side story than anything else, but I ultimately decided it was unneeded. And I honestly think this turned out better of having her be a part of the actual plot rather then just filler like she was going to be. And again it was fun to have Kelly and Tad in there! I adore them both, especially together. I know cannon wise they're not together (and I completely get why) but my characters are different and don't have the constant on again, off again relationship like they do in the series. And yes Kelly is a chef. The reason: when I first decided to make this story, she was still pretty new to the series so I didn't really know much about her and that was one of the details I added myself, because I wanted to have someone who shared Marco's love of cooking which we will be seeing more of later on.**

 **So anyways, I hope you all have a great two weeks and be sure to catch the new Star vs. I'll be hard at work on the next chapter: _Kiss and Tell_. I'm soooo excited! Love you all, bye! **

**Gamelover41592- Thanks, I'm glad you like it! Yeah I admit it did take me way too long to show her family, but it never felt like the best time to introduce them before and that just seemed like the perfect opportunity to show them. As for Ms. Heinous, well... she will be in it a lot more in part two, and yeah I am reworking some things to fit her backstory a bit better but at the moment I can't say how much I'm keeping and how much I'm changing. But it won't be exactly the same as the show.**

 **allen Vth- Oh no, not you two! Sorry, you're not the first person who's not had a comment post for this story. I feel so bad, but I have no idea how to fix it, I'm pretty sure it's just the site itself messing up. Still sorry :(**

 **Anyways, yeah I know Oskar isn't exactly a fan favorite, but I did want to include him and give him a proper send off for now. And yes, Marco is quite a bit different to his cannon counterpart, even more so than any of the others, but I felt like his was the one that needed the most change. Originally I was going to just reverse the rolls completely having Star being the more level-headed, safer one who shows their partner the ins and outs of their world and Marco was going to be much more like Star, having him be high-energy and learning all about the others world. But that's not how it worked out, I wanted to have them keep some of their originally traits, but it ended up making Marco very, very low on self-esteem, something he will have to work to overcome. I do already have a plan going for this story, but I do like the suggestion of having him be a squire, that would be pretty cute, I just can't promise a yes or no on that. And I honestly hadn't thought of Higgs before, hmm...**

 **Anyways, thank for the patience, but don't worry you won't have to wait for too much longer ;) and yeah our little Star is in love, how oh how will she handle herself? And how long until Marco figures out his feeling in return?**

 **Finally, I'm looking forward to showing you the blood moon, I have it planned for somewhere in part two of this story and I think you will enjoy it. But I wasn't aware it was only in the underworld considering you could see the blood moon in the background when Marco was on Earth during that episode. But *shrugs* I could be wrong. Anyways, thanks for the review and kind words I hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Sugar- Aww, thank you! Yeah, I wanted to have Star going to St. O's be a plot twist and I'm glad to see I did pull it off well. Also glad to see you caught on to that! Star is always a helpful little heart, but after St. O's she has a better understanding of others suffering and does everything in her power to help them. But it is through both of their experiences that makes Star and Marco so close because they both are hurting and now are helping each other heal. But her being a magical angel doesn't hurt anything either ;)**

 **Yes Star's realized the truth, can't believe it took her so long, I mean come on, Star, Marco is adorable! And I'm so glad you like cute cinnamon bun Marco. I've always preferred the cute side to Marco but I do enjoy the bad boy version, I bet your stuff is really good! :)**

 **Christopherprime22- Hey! *waves vigorously* It's good to hear from you! :) Hope you enjoyed your vacation! Anyways onto the story.**

 **Masquerade: Haha I'm glad you loved it so much! It was seriously one of my best and favorite chapters so far! Of course Star recognized Marco, she's naturally drawn to cuteness didn't you know! ;) But yeah the weeks of just staring at him, memorizing every detail of his face doesn't hurt anything either. The dance was pretty amazing and a ton of fun to write and yeah like I said, you're song really was perfect for the chapter, I'm so glad it matched up to what was going on so perfectly! I had already finished the dance part when I got your review and I was mesmerized with how perfectly in tune it was to the events happening. And of course, Marco would step in the way, he is the ultimate gentlemen. But yeah it's sad to see him hurt any, good thing Star was there to comfort him.**

 **Scars: I'm so pleased to hear you feel that way about my Oskar! While he isn't my favorite in the show I do find him pretty funny and I actually enjoyed his part when they had him in it, but I do agree that they didn't give him much to work off of, it felt more like he was only there to be eye candy for Star to go after and so I wanted there to be more to him in mine. So I gave him something canon Oskar doesn't have: a goal. All he wanted in this story was to make Star happy and by giving him a motivation I thought it made him more likeable and deep. And honestly, I didn't just want him to be an excuse for forced jealousy. Also I just realized I think I spelt his name wrong through the whole entire chapter! Oops! Finally, yeah, don't think there is a lot needed to be said for the ending, mostly because I'm not sure what to say about it. XD**

 **Now for songs! Glad you liked "All About Us" and yes it was mostly the basis for the tone of the chapter, I probably listened to it a thousand times while writing the dance scene... and felt like a thousand years went by before I was done! XD ha ha sorry I couldn't resist the joke! *ahem* anyways, I was a little confused by your suggestion, but once I listened to it I _adored_ "Set It On Fire"! Oh it was so perfect! It's so light-hearted and all about with the help of their loved ones they can overcome their hurt by letting go of it! How fitting for Star and Marco! So in keep in theme with yours, I'm going to go with "Glowing in the Dark" by Girl and the Dreamcatcher. I think you'll enjoy it. **

**Finally, of course I will wish you a Happy Birthday! Though it may be a little off, according to my posting schedule it should end up coming out the week before so I hope you don't mind. Still I will be sure to wish you a Happy (if not early) 17th Birthday. Till next time friend, bye!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	15. Kiss and Tell

Chapter 14: Kiss and Tell

 **Hey Stardom! Here I am with another great chapter for you all! And I just want to say thank you so much for every single favorite, follow, and wow that's a lot of reviews! You guys are just the absolute best and make it all worth while! I want you to know I appreciate each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Writing for you is an absolute pleasure! :) But enough sappy stuff, onto the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"And that's about it," Marco finished, giving the two girls in front of him sheepish smiles. Jackie and Janna could only stare at him wide-eyed, with equally shocked and skeptical faces, even the normally reserved and cryptic Janna was thrown-off guard by the boy's confession, an awkward tension filling the room, leaving Marco feeling anxious, awaiting his friend's reaction. He hadn't meant to go on so long but when the girl's had dragged him into his room, demanding he spill his guts to them, he had lost all control as the secrets he had been trying to keep came pouring out of him, as he recounted his unusual childhood with the monsters, Marco unable to deny how good it felt to get all of that off his chest and finally tell someone about what was going on.

"Okay, wait, wait," Jackie finally said, obviously trying to wrap her mind around everything she had just been told. "You're telling us that you were raised by _monsters_?!"

"Yeah," Marco answered honestly. "I know it probably sounds pretty crazy."

"More like insane," Janna corrected. "Why would Toffee, of all monsters, raise a Mewman kid." The girl rolled her eyes. "And I thought my childhood was messed up."

"Yeah, it is... a lot to take in actually," Jackie admitted, looking slightly frazzled. Marco said nothing, unsure what to do now that his secret was exposed. So far it wasn't going so well.

"Well, Master Toffee didn't really do much of the raising," he finally said. "It was mostly Buff Frog and the other monsters."

"Okay, but," Janna suddenly blurted. "If the other monsters really do care about you so much what was with that whole display earlier?"

Marco looked away at the comment not sure what he was supposed to say. "I'm not sure. Normally their really sweet, but..." Marco paused for a moment, before saying thoughtfully. "They said something about me being hypnotized and that Buff Frog was working with the Mewmans to kidnap me."

Marco sighed putting his head in his hands. "I don't know what to think anymore," he admitted gloomily. "All this time I thought I knew about the monsters, but now... I don't feel like I know anything. I mean, I don't even know what it is the monsters are doing that makes the Mewmans hate them so much! All I know is that Buff Frog told me they did something really bad, but I'm not sure if I ever really believed him before! I mean Master Toffee is cruel, but the others... And now..." Marco groaned, his confused mind making it difficult to think, as he buried his head even deeper into his opened palms, trying to hide his frustrated tears from the girls' view.

There was a short silence, Marco taking a few deep breaths, his eyes closed tight, as he tried to calm himself. Then he felt a comforting hand on either shoulder, looking up to see Jackie and Janna standing over him, a soft smile on both of their faces. Before the hooded boy could say a word, the two pulled him into their embrace, squeezing him tight. "It's gonna be alright, Marco," Jackie comforted. "I promise."

"Yeah, we'll figure this all out," Janna added, her voice surprisingly gentle.

After a moment, the girls finally pulled away, but Jackie, seeing Marco's tear-streaked face asked, "You okay?"

Marco nodded, keeping his eyes on the floor instead of them, trying to give them the best grateful smile he could manage, but the sadness in his eyes never left. "Yeah, thanks. I guess I'm just wishing Buff Frog had just told me what he meant that night. Everything would be so much simpler."

Jackie put a hand on top of Marco's. "I know this must all be really difficult for you, Marco," she said soothingly. She bite her lip, hesitating, her eyes locking with Janna for half a second, before adding. "But I think we know what he was talking about."

Marco's head shot up, his eyes instantly locking with his skater friend's. "You do?!" he asked, excitedly.

"Yeah," Jackie replied hesitantly. "But... you're not gonna like it." Marco felt a shiver run down his spine at the seriousness in the girl's tone.

"I don't care, please, tell me," Marco begged, his eyes filled with a mixture of emotions, his every nerve alive with anticipation, his other hand grabbing onto Jackie's.

"Are you sure?" Janna asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "It's gonna be really hard to hear."

Was he ready? Marco couldn't help but wonder this. All this time he had been waiting for this chance, the chance to know the truth, but could he handle it? Could he handle knowing whatever awful, unspeakable thing that the monsters, his family, were doing? But the better question was, could he handle not knowing? Could he live with the lack of any real answers, could he allow himself to live forever in his ignorant bliss? Marco knew the answer, every fiber of his being simultaneously convinced of the answer.

"Yes," Marco said, a raw determination in his eyes and voice, more so than either girl had ever seen on him, Jackie feeling Marco gently squeeze her hand. "I need to know, Jackie. They're my family."

Jackie stared deep into the boy's brown eyes, not quite sure if she could bring herself to hurt him, terrified how her emotionally unstable friend would react when he learned the awful truth about the people he considered his family. "Please," he whispered again, the look in his eyes, shattering the girl's resolve.

Finally she decided to just get it over with as she said in a pain-filled voice, "The monsters are at war with the Mewmans, Marco."

Marco felt his heart stop, his eyes growing wide with fear and confusion. He pulled his hands out of Jackie's grasp, shuffling a little bit away from the girl, as his head spun with a million different questions at once. But all he could bring himself to ask was, "What?"

Jackie felt a twinge of regret, hating to see the boy so hurt, as his reality shattered around him, but she kept a level gaze with the boy, trying to ignore the pleading look in his eyes, as if he was begging her to tell him that it wasn't true. She opened her mouth to say more, but found her voice too chocked up to continue.

"It's true," Janna took over, seeing her friend's distress. "Ever since Toffee came into power, 15 years ago, the Mewnians and monsters have been at constant odds, they just keep attacking over and over again, taking over the Mewmans land and killing anyone who gets in their way. Their ruthless-"

"No!" Marco screamed, making both girls jump, as his whole body began to shake, his hands squeezing into tight fists. "You're wrong! The monsters would never do that!" He hesitated for a moment, his eyes jumping between his two friends, before asking, "Wouldn't they?"

Janna averted her gaze from the distressed boy, going quiet, but Jackie kept her gaze strong. "I'm so sorry Marco," she finally said, the look in her eyes confirming the truth of what they were saying to the boy, Marco now unable to deny it, the monsters were killers. And with that revelation, a thousand memories came flooding back to him, times spent with the monsters, the pieces all finally coming together. He felt sick, his hands feebly clawing at his hair, his breath becoming ragged, how could his family, the monster he had always know and loved be so awful. How many of his own had fallen at the claws of the monsters he had been with since he was young? Beard Deer? Lobsters Claws? _Buff Frog?_ How many Mewmans had they killed?

And that's when it hit him, yet another revelation on top of the others, as Buff Frog's words returned to him that night, he had never noticed it before but his frog father's words had been littered with some deep, powerful emotion as he spoke: regret. Marco sat up, his whole face blank as he muttered, "He's controlling them." The girl's gave him a confused look, Marco quickly adding in a far louder tone. "Don't you guys see it? The monsters aren't killing Mewmans because they want to their doing it because Master Toffee is making them. Otherwise they would never be doing that."

"Marco-" Jackie started, but Marco didn't let her finish.

"No. Trust me, Jackie, I know them. They're not bad guys. And..." Marco shuddered before continuing. "And know one knows better than me how easy it is for Master Toffee to make you feel like you have no choice." The two girls said nothing, just giving the boy concerned looks, as Marco's eyes glazed over with pain, his hand absentmindedly rubbing his arm, the one Toffee had struck. Though if Jackie and Janna were being honest the thing they were having the most difficulty comprehending was Marco calling the feared lizard "master", the surrealness shocking both of them into silence. The boy took a shaky breath, working up the nerve to continue, though there was a slight squeak in his voice now, as the lump in his throat restricted his ability to speak clearly. "I mean, think about it, you did say that all this didn't start until Master Toffee came into power."

"That's... true," Jackie helpfully supplied, though the grimace on her face told Marco she didn't really believe it.

Janna could tell that Jackie's facial expression was bothering the boy, as his whole body seemed to deflate a little, quickly adding, "Look, Marco, it's not that we don't believe you, it's just... well our whole lives we were told to fear the monsters, even me."

"But aren't you half-monster?" Marco asked.

Janna shrugged. "Impures and monsters get along about as well as laser puppies and human-faced cats."

Marco gave his creepy friend a strange look at her oddly specific analogy, the room growing awkwardly quite for a second and she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, it's not a pretty sight," she said cryptically and Marco and Jackie shared a look for a second.

"Ooookaaaaay," Jackie said, raising an eyebrow at her roommate, before turning her attention to Marco. "Anyways, do you know what you're going to say to her yet, Marco?"

"Huh?" Marco asked, cocking his head cutely to the side, his head still too full and spinning with all the crazy, unbelievable things he had learned in just the last few minutes to understand what the skater girl in front of him was trying to say. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Jackie explained. "Now that you know everything, what are you going to tell Star?"

"Or," Janna supplied, raising a knowing finger in the air, to draw the two's attention. "Bigger question. _Are_ you going to tell Star?" With that, both Jackie and Janna turned to the boy expectantly, awaiting his answer.

Marco eyes dropped to the floor, biting his lip, as the question rang through his troubled mind, the heavy decision weighing heavily on his shoulders, as he tried to decide on whether or not he could bring himself to tell Star the truth about his family, about who he was, the fear of rejection from his bestie making his body feel numb and his brain completely indecisive, as he answered honestly, "I don't know."

…

"Ugh, what is the matter with you?!" the young blond royal screamed, as she paced back and forth around her room shouting insults at herself, like she had been for the last hour and a half, her frustration at an all time high. "How could you just run away from him like that?! You probably upset him! Weren't you even thinking of his feelings?!" She continued, retracing her steps over and over again, her feet slowly beginning to wear a path into the floor, as she sunk deeper and deeper into her own pit of self-loathing.

She let out a quick huff, her cheeks blushing furiously as she tried to ignore the fast-beating of both her heart and cheek marks as her mind refused to stop its torment as it replayed the scene on the rooftop again and again with no sign of stopping. "But what else was I supposed to do? I mean it came out of nowhere! One minute we're talking and the next thing I knew he's..." Star's voice cut off, as her whole face grew redder than a tomato, unable to bring herself to even say the word she was thinking. She stopped her pacing for a moment, gently touching her lips, the tingling for just a moment returning as she could still recall the feeling of Marco's lips brushing against hers and the giddy joy that resulted from it, as some deep, previously unknown emotion flowed quickly through her, making her whole body feel like it was floating, numbing her senses and ceasing the functioning of her brain. It had been magical and amazing, something she never would have imagined experiencing but something she would gladly experience again. Too bad she had ruined her chances of that seconds later when she had just up and left with barely an explanation of why.

Star groaned as she plopped down onto her bed, hugging one of her pillows as tightly as she possibly could as embarrassment and love flowed through her in equal mixtures. "Marco, why do you have to be so adorable all the time?" she whined loudly, before burying her head into her pillow. "You are seriously too cute and amazing," her muffled voice confessed from within the confines of her pillow.

The lovestruck royal finally removed her head from the pillow and, in a fit of frustration, she threw it across the room, shouting loudly, "So why does everything with you have to be so complicated?!" Star flopped back down onto her bed, trying and failing to push any and all thoughts of Marco out of her head, that was until she heard a respectful cough trying to draw her attention from the other side of the room. She sat up quickly, only to see Jak and Dex standing awkwardly in the doorway, the pillow the girl had thrown laying at Dex's feet.

"Jak! Dex!" the girl squeaked, her throat unbearably tight as she jumped off of her bed, trying to pull up her princess mask as quickly as she could, trying her best to hide how truly mortified she felt knowing someone had overheard her confession. "I-I-I didn't hear you come in." If Star had been embarrassed before, it was nothing compared to how she felt at that moment, her heart pounding so loudly she was certain they could hear it, terrified of what all of her rant they had overheard, which unfortunately was most of it. But, if it was any consolation to the startled royal, both Jak and Dex looked equally as embarrassed as the princess felt, standing awkwardly in the doorway, neither refusing to meet her eye, as they even forgot to bow to their future leader, both too focused on trying not to embarrass the girl any further than they already had.

"Sorry, princess, we know it's late but an urgent matter has come up that needs your attention," Jak said.

"But if you'd like we can just wait until morning," Dex added, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, no, it's fine," Star cut in, sounding not at all fine, as she waved her hands wildly in front of her in an attempt to calm them. "I was having trouble getting to sleep anyways. Honestly I could use a distraction." Though both guards knew this and exactly why the girl was struggling with insomnia neither dared say a word on the matter.

"Of course, Your Highness," Dex said respectfully, both finally remembering to drop into a bow.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Star asked, finally regaining full authority in her voice, as her embarrassment thankfully subsided.

The two guards, also seemed to have recovered from their awkwardness, standing at attention as they addressed their leader. "It seems one of the anti-portal generators has stopped functioning, Your Highness," Dex explained.

Star gave the two a confused look. "Anti-portal generators? You mean those things my mom made to keep people from just zapping into the middle of the city?"

"That's correct," Dex continued. "And as long as it is down anyone with a pair of dimensional scissors can freely enter town or even the palace."

"Including monsters," Jak added.

Star bit her lip. "That is serious," she muttered. With that down monsters could come and go as they please which meant it was only a matter of time before they decided to attack. "How long has it been down?"

The two hesitated before responding, Jak coughing to clear his tight airways, both guards giving the girl the most sheepish look she had ever seen on any of the guards, but not Marco, no one could hope to even rival one of his adorably sheepish smiles, _Really Star,_ she scolded herself. S _tay focused_. "Ummm, a few days... probably," Jak finally said, his voice no more than a nervous whisper.

"Days!" she screamed, making them both jump. "The generator has been down that long! Why wasn't I told before now?"

"We just found out about it, ourselves," Dex said.

"Why did it stop working?" Star asked, eying the two guards equally.

Once again, there was a short moment of hesitation. "We... believe that the magic that was used to keep it functioning... faded," Jak said.

Star felt her stomach twist with guilt. Though neither guard dare say it they all knew if the magic in the generator faded it was because the princess had failed to supply enough, just like with the barrier at the corn field. Star took a deep breath, trying to settle her guilty stomach and keep her voice sounding strong and sure. "Well if that's the case then I will just have to fix it. Take me to it and-"

"Well, there is one other problem with that, Your Highness," Dex said, both giving the girl's guilty stares.

"And what is that?" Star asked.

…

Star stared with fear at the tall, dark treeline in front of her, looking as menacing as ever, a lump immediately forming in her throat, as she finally understood how the generator had gone so long without being noticed by the guards. "The Forest of Certain Death," Star squeaked, turning to the group of guards that had escorted her to the edge of the city. "You mean to tell me there is a shield generator in the middle of the Forest of Certain Death."

"It's not ideal," one of the guards admitted and Star scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, no kidding." She crossed her arms, trying to hide her shivering from their view as she looked back to the woods with uncertainty. "Why would my mom even put one here?"

"Well normally it wouldn't be a problem," another guard defended. "It's almost indestructible when it's, y'know, working. And the queen for a while had it pretty heavily guarded, but with all the attacks at the border recently, we've been stretched too thin to keep a good eye on it."

"So then what made you notice it wasn't working all of a sudden?" Star asked, eying them from the corner of her eye.

"Well it seems like it was partially functioning before, but earlier it just stopped altogether," a guard explained.

Star said nothing, eying the woods with uncertainty, trying her best to her fear from the others, but all of them could see her nervousness, her hands subconsciously twitching at her sides.

"Princess, if you'd prefer, we could just call your mother," a guard helpfully supplied.

"No," Star said, her voice shaking slightly. But she took a deep breath, gathering her nerve, before adding in a much more authoritative voice, "That won't be necessary. I got this." She held her wand up, the whole thing glowing with magical energy, to prove her point.

Though some of the guards were still skeptical, they all nodded, bowing low to the ground as one of them replied, "Of course, Your Highness."

"So," Star said, trying to keep her voice from cracking from the fear still coursing through her body, as she gestured to the dark woods. "If you boys wouldn't mind, please lead the way."

The guards all bowed to their princess, respectfully saying, "Yes, Your Highness," before starting off into the woods. Star hesitated for a moment, trying to calm her racing heart, before following after, squeezing her wand as tightly as she could, in hopes it would provide some sort of comfort from the uneasy darkness that now surrounded her. But all she could think was how much she wished Marco was there with her, knowing his mere presence would fill her with courage and help her to brave the dark woods. But instead all she felt was an empty loneliness, as she jogged forward, trying to keep up with the fast-moving pack of guards. She felt silly, letting her nerves get the best of her and she mentally scolded her paranoid mind for acting like such a baby. She was just on edge because of how terrifying the last time she had been in those woods had been. But now was different, she was with a group of highly-trained guards prepared for any scenario these creepy woods could dream up. And they weren't heading to some mysterious cave, they were going to fix something specifically designed to protect her. It was a simple mission, in and out, no reason for her to be so afraid. But still, she couldn't quite stop the shiver from running up her spine, as, for just a moment, she could swear she had felt something watching her from the shadows.

…

"So, if you boys wouldn't mind, please lead the way."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Boo Fly smiled, making sure to keep himself hidden withing the bushes of a tree, his thousands of eyes, closely watching the foolish princess and her idiot guards as they entered the woods, the girl looking nervous and uncertain, as she rubbed a hand up and down her arm, as if she were cold. _Hah_ , Boo Fly thought, amused by the girl's fear. _So the little princess is getting cold feet, how pathetic._

Suddenly, the girl shuddered out of nowhere, stopping for a second as her eyes darted around the area, as if searching for some kind of danger and Boo Fly flew a little farther back into her hiding spot, trying to shield himself from the suspicious girl's prying eyes. He held his breath, concerned she was going to somehow spot him, but thankfully one of the guards called out to the princess, drawing her attention, checking to make sure she was okay and she quickly resumed her trek through the dark woods, yelling a half hearted response that she was fine, before disappearing from view. Boo Fly breathed a sigh of relief, before flying hesitantly out of his hiding spot, making sure he was alone once again. He smiled wickedly, flying over to the small mirror phone he had stashed in a nearby tree trunk, instantly hitting the call option, the screen lighting up and nearly blinding him as it full-filled his request.

After a couple seconds a familiar face appeared on the screen. "Mazzzter Toffee," Boo Fly buzzed. "The girl took the bait. Juzzzzt like you zzzaid."

"Excellent, Boo Fly, you did well," Toffee said, even on the small phone Boo Fly unmistakeably able to hear the malice hidden behind the lizard's cold monotone. "She's falling right into our trap. And if the girl is here, then no doubt little Marco won't be far behind."

…

Marco, Jackie, and Janna walked quickly down the hallway, the boy in the lead, his friends keeping a close watch on their nervous friend. His hands were twitching at his side, every step making him seem more and more unsettled, the girls afraid he might bolt at any second. But the hooded boy pushed on, sweat beginning to drip down his face, his body filled with nervous energy. He really didn't want to have to do this, but it was already decided, Star had to know. And though he wanted nothing more than to put it off until morning, the girls had urged him to not waste any time, telling him it was better to just get it over with, the sooner she knew the better.

So that was why he was making the long, stressful trek to Star's room, Jackie and Janna insisting on coming with, though he was fairly sure it was to keep him from running away before he could talk to her, not that he was complaining, he needed all the encouragement he could get. He honestly wouldn't have made it this far without their presence. Before Marco knew it, they had reached the girl's door, the wooden frame looking strangely menacing to him all of a sudden, as he raised a hand, trying to gather up enough courage to knock. But he was frozen, his hand shaking as it hovered just inches from the framework. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, mentally willing himself to stop delaying the inevitable and just get it over with.

And yet, he couldn't bring himself to do it, a thousand fears rushing through his mind. _What will she say? What do I tell her? What if she doesn't understand? What if she asks about the kiss? What if she hates me afterward? What if-_

Marco jumped, as he felt a hand on his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. He swerved on his heels to see Jackie giving him a sympathetic look. "You okay?" she asked, looking concerned.

Though Marco felt anything but okay, he nodded and said, "Yeah."

"'Cause if you're not okay, we can wait until morning," Jackie said.

"No," Marco said, sounding a little bit more determined... but not by much. "I need to do this."

"Well, then by all means," Janna took over, taking a few steps forward and putting a supportive hand on the boy's back, gesturing to the closed door. "Do it."

Marco felt a rush of determination, his hand closing in on the door. He could do this, he repeated over and over in his head. He could do this. He could do this. He couldn't do this. Marco pulled his hand away at the last second, muttering anxiously, "Y'know, I bet she's asleep by now. Maybe we should just leave and come back in the morning." He turned to leave, but was thwarted by Janna, who still had a hold on him, easily spinning him back around so he was facing the door once again, the casual smirk never once leaving her face.

"No chickening out," was all she said, her cryptic voice surprisingly soothing. "You got this."

But Marco didn't respond, looking scared stiff, staring at the door with wide, fearful eyes. Janna looked back at Jackie who shrugged, unsure what to do. Then, without warning, Janna reached a hand out and knocked once on the door. Marco panicked, screaming as he tried to find a place to hide in the narrow hallway, fidgeting in the girl's arms. "Ah! I can't do this! I can't face her! Hide me!" the boy loudly rambled, trying to pull out of the girl's surprisingly strong grip.

"Janna!" Jackie scolded, stepping closer to glare at her roommate.

"What?!" the creepy girl said, defensively, holding the struggling boy by his hood. "He wasn't going to do it himself."

"You don't know that," Jackie said with exasperation. "He was just trying to work up the nerve, you should have let him."

Marco stopped struggling, realizing something was wrong, his eyebrows pinched together with confusion.

"Well, him 'working up the nerve'," Janna continued, doing air-quotes with her free hand. "Was taking forever. I don't know about you but I don't want to be stuck standing in this hallway all night."

"Uh, guys," Marco spoke up.

"That's not the point, Jan," the skater girl scolded.

"Guys," Marco said, a little louder.

"Then what exactly is the point," Janna said, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"GUYS!" The two finally turned to look at the boy, shocked by the serious expression he was giving them. "Why hasn't Star come out yet?" he said grimly. The three slowly turned to the door, eying it suspiciously. Marco took a brave step forward, his fear forgotten, as he opened the door and stepped inside, no longer bothering with knocking. Jackie and Janna followed after the boy, looking around the empty room with concern.

"Star?" Marco called, looking left and right for any sign of the missing princess.

"She's not here," Jackie said, her voice soft but strained with worry, running a hand along Star's disgruntled bedsheets, fear clenching her chest as she realized the girl had been in her room at some point during the night.

"Where do you think she could have gone?" Janna asked, picking the discarded pillow off the floor, trying not to show her own anxiety over the girl's sudden disappearance.

"Do you think she's okay?" Marco asked, worriedly.

"Are you looking for the princess?" The three turned to see Jak, giving them a blank stare.

"Have you seen her, Jak?" Marco asked, giving him a pleading look.

The guard nodded. "Sure have. In fact, me and Dex just talked to her not too long ago. She left with some guards to go take care of something."

"What?" Jackie asked, confused what could be so important she would leave in the middle of the night.

"Ummm," Jak hesitated, looking anxious, refusing to meet any of their eyes. "I'm not really supposed to talk about that..."

Janna closed in on the guy, glaring at him menacingly. "Spill," she hissed, the look in her eyes giving Jak the creeps, making him release an unmanly squeak.

"Okay, okay," he said quickly. "She went out to fix one of the anti-portal generators."

"You mean the thing that keeps people from using dimensional scissors!" Jackie exclaimed.

The guard nodded, taking an uncomfortable step away from the beanie-wearing girl. "That's right. The magic in it faded so she went out to fix it."

"And as long as it's down, anyone can use dimensional scissors to get into town," Marco questioned.

"Yep," the guard nodded. "But don't worry, I doubt any monsters would be stupid enough to try and attack here."

The three teens shared a look, all thinking the exact same thing, but none daring to voice their thoughts out loud. _But they already had._ Jackie couldn't believe she hadn't thought about it before, but with everything else going on, it hadn't even occurred to her that the monsters had used dimensional scissors to get in, something that normally should have been impossible.

Jak picked up on the little nervous exchange between the small group and felt the need to comfort them. "If you're worried about Princess Star don't be," he soothed, misreading the situation, assuming they were concerned for the safety of their friend. "Like I said she didn't go alone, me and Dex wanted to go too but someone has to guard the gates and all. But it's really not a big deal, I mean the name is super misleading-"

"What are you talking about?" Janna interrupted, sounding annoyed, the other two all giving him confused looks.

Jak froze, suddenly looking unsure again. "N-Never mind," he whispered, turning to leave, but he was thwarted as Janna cut his path off, slamming the door shut, trapping him in the room.

"Jak, what's going on?" Jackie questioned. The nervous guard looking between the three kids, trying his best not to look as intimidated as he felt, sweat freely dripping down his face. "W-What do you m-mean?" he stuttered, trying to sound nonchalant, chuckling awkwardly. "There's n-nothing going on."

"Jak," Marco's voice spoke up, sounding hurt and lost, the room going dead silent as they all turned to look at the hooded boy, his face filled with fear, his eyes wide and shimmering with some unspoken emotion, his sad face instantly breaking any resolve Jak had. "Where is Star?"

There was a short moment of silence before Jak responded, "She... she went to the Forest of Certain Death."

Marco felt his heart stop in that second, the world around him spinning out of control. He could barely breath as he turned to Jackie and Janna, who looked equally as shocked and he could tell they were thinking the same thing as him. "Toffee," he whispered and the two girls nodded in agreement.

Jak, however, looked surprised by the statement. "Wait, Toff-"

But the next thing the guard knew the three were gone, the door thrown open with a slam, as they raced down the hallway, Marco in the lead, his thoughts on Star, hoping against hope that he found her before it was too late.

…

Star walked quietly along the path, her every nerve alive, her body on edge as she awaited an attack from the unknown. She was also keeping a close watch on the guards she was with, making sure to keep them in sight, the last thing she wanted to do now was get lost out here in the middle of the night.

She tried to put all distracting thoughts aside and focus on the task at hand, which mostly meant trying not to think about Marco and the kiss. But that was proving difficult, though it was intense, the long walk was proving boring as well, Star having little else to think about as she pushed on through the shadowy woods alone.

Wait. Star froze, looking around her for any signs of her guards. Though they had been in front of her a moment ago they seemed to have just vanished into thin air, Star realizing she must have ironically distracted herself with thoughts of _not_ being distracted, thus leaving her unaware of her surroundings. Star mentally chastised herself as she called out into the darkness of the woods around her. "Hello?"

There was no response but empty, crushing silence and Star felt her heart begin to pound against her will, holding up her wand in a defensive position once again, this whole thing making her feel ill at ease. _There's no way they got that far ahead of me_ , she thought again, while calling, "Hello?!"

Star began creeping forward with slow, cautious steps, making sure to keep her wand charged with magical energy, which luckily did help to light a small area around her so she thankfully didn't have to worry about tripping and falling in the pitch darkness that surrounded her. But that was the only relief she could find as with every agonizing step she became more and more concerned about the safety of her guards, still shouting to them frequently, sounding more and more panicked every time. "Hello! Guys?! Can you hear me?! Please, say something, _anything_ to tell me you're okay?!"

Star felt her foot bump against something hard and she looked down, feeling her heart drop. There, laying at her feet, were the unconscious forms of her trusted and highly-trained group of guards. Star's breathing became shallow as a cold sweeping fear flowed through her, chilling her to the bone, her wand beginning to shake in her hands. She took a few steps back, the princess feeling at a loss, her fear for her safety making her want to run as far away as she could, but concern for the guards keeping her in place. Still she continued to back up, her eyes darting around for any sign of what could have done this to her men, but was stopped as her back hit something hard, her heart skipping a beat. She of course jumped, trying to hold in her scream, as she used the very few seconds she had to analyze the situation. At first she thought it was a tree, but the warmth it gave off, as well as constant rise and fall of something obviously alive and breathing, told her otherwise, which meant she had to act, _now_. Steeling her nerve she took a large leap forward, putting distance between her and the enemy, before turning on her heels and shooting off the blast of energy she had been gathering. The blast met its target as the monster, as well as several trees, were devastated by the unexpected attack, the bear-like monster barely having a chance to scream before he was caught up in the magical explosion.

Star panted, keeping her wand raised, as the smoke began to clear, seeing the singed form of her attacker, laying in a heap on the ground, his brown fur now colored black, small tufts of his once-brown fur still on fire. The young royal kept a close eye on the monster, just in case he tried to get up, but it quickly became apparent he was out-cold, Star letting out a relieved sigh.

"Well that's not nice." Star screamed, scanning the dark treeline around her in fear, unsure where the monotone voice had come from, the sound seeming to echo from every direction. "Is that any way to treat one of your hosts," the voice had a scolding tone to it, as if she was a child.

"W-Who are you?" Star asked, trying to keep her voice strong.

"Oh you mean you really don't recognize me, princess." Star shuddered, as the voice spat the word 'princess', as if it gave him a bad taste in his mouth. "I know we've never officially met before but I assumed you would be able to tell who I am."

"No, no clue," she said in a hard tone, trying to pinpoint the source of her discomfort, but it seemed to be impossible.

"Didn't Marco tell you about me, at least?"

Star felt a new fear cling to her at the mention of her bestie, instantly realizing who she was dealing with now, her eyes widening with fright. "No matter." Star felt her heart cease to beat, as the dreaded, suit-wearing lizard of her nightmares stepped into view, giving her a blank, empty glare, a business-like smile on his lips, as his glowing green eyes dug deep into her skin, chilling her to the bone. "We'll get to know one another very soon." She was about to make a run for it, when more shapes emerged from the shadows, several sinister pairs of eyes focusing in on her shaky form, the girl completely surrounded by monsters, smiling wickedly at her, all awaiting her to make her next move. She tried to keep her nerve, glaring daggers of hate at the creatures, while searching for any signs of escape from this nightmarish situation, her frazzled brain spinning as it tried to form some kind of plan.

Toffee smiled, enjoying watching the pretty, little princess panic. "Now then." The girl's wide eyes immediately focused on him, as he took another step closer, the lizrd surprised by her bravery as she refused to move even an inch, not giving him the satisfaction of showing the fear she so obviously felt. "It seems you're guards have failed to deliver you through this forest safely." He gestured to the unconscious guards laying a few feet away, Star looking out of the corner of her eye. "So I think it would be best if you allowed us to escort you the rest of the way, Your Highness." He dropped into a bow, his voice a mocking tone and several of the monster chuckled cruelly.

But Star showed no fear, as she gathered every ounce of nerve in her body, as she quickly lifted the glowing wand, aiming right for the hated lizard, screaming at the top her lungs, "Narwhal Blast!" A loud explosion filling the quiet of the dark, dangerous woods, as the battle between Princess Star Butterfly and the forces of evil that threatened her began.

 **So I'm gonna make this quick because I have to be somewhere, but I just want to give a quick Happy Birthday to my friendChristopherprime22! *throws confetti into the air* Look at that I got it out on your birthday! YAY! *W* Here have a hug! *HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUGGGGS!***

 **So I gotta go, but you all have a great two weeks and I will see you all next time! Love you, bye!**

 **SuicideGuy- 13: That's great, I hope you continue to enjoy! And don't worry Starco is fast on the way.**

 **14: We'll just have to wait and see!**

 **Gamelover41592- Awww, thank you! I try to make them as epic as I can and it's so sweet of you to say! And yeah, things aren't looking good for Mewni or for Marco, hopefully are heroes can pull through. Of course your welcome, I do my best to answer people's questions to the best of my abilities and honestly I appreciate it, it's given me a lot to think about! :)**

 **Dex Cipher- Thanks, I'm so glad you're enjoying! :3 I do try to give the people what they want, but I had to keep with my original plan for this and yeah things are going down this chapter, like a lot. I hope you like it!**

 **allen Vth- Yep, there's no going back now, Marco's got to tell the truth about everything. But yeah, the boy isn't a great secret keeper good thing he didn't know he even had one for long. That is a good thought, Marco does know where Toffee's lair is at so that would work, but he would only do it if there was a good reason. And I do go more into why the monsters were able to get into the castle in this chapter, but thanks for the suggestion!**

 **Haha, yeah I know that kinda came out of left field, like how could he not know! But the thing is, Marco was pretty sheltered growing up and well let's face it, none of the monsters probably ever intended for him to interact with a girl, so the "talk" probably didn't seem all that necessary to them. Plus, I doubt many of them even thought of it. To be honest, Marco's school life is a little iffy, Buff Frog probably did most of the teaching but without Marco able to leave the castle he didn't get a lot of real life experiences that help with a lot of your learning. Originally, I was going to make Marco illiterate but decided against it.**

 **And yes, who knew that low self-esteem Marco had it in him, you need to step up your game cannon Marco. At least he doesn't have to deal with Toffee anymore, oh boy, this probably won't end well. Thanks for the review as always!**

 **Hueheart- Glad you enjoyed that so much, I had way too much fun with that scene! But if we are counting the number of spit takes from all the readers it was probably more than just three... more like three hundred. Haha, anyways, you are so welcome, but I should be thanking you for the amazing comment, it makes me strive to do more!**

 **IceFire9- Thanks! Glad you like it and wait no longer because the truth is here! Enjoy!**

 **Upstart Psycho- Wow, I'm touched! It's so nice to know you came to love this little old story of mine. *blushed profusely* That means so much to me! But yeah, cute, cinnamon bun Marco is too good for this world and is definitely my favorite part of the whole story. I will continue to do my best!**

 **The Intelligent Otaku 556- Awww, thank you! There is a lot to Marco's backstory some I haven't touched on just yet, but it is coming. Also, I don't think I've ever heard Marco being compared to Superman before in any regard, so hey thanks! Haha, but I do know what you mean, a little mystery is good for a character. Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Guest- Thanks, glad you are enjoying!**

 **Sugar- Thanks, I try! Yeah I know the kiss was unexpected and the monsters showing up definitely was, so I'm glad my plan paid off! And yes the kiss was my favorite part to write this chapter, I wanted it to be special. Also, that is so sweet of you to say! I never thought I would ever get this much love for a little old story of mine, so your kind words are just so uplifting, really, especially since you are a fellow writer! So you and Sugarqueen97 are one in the same, I suspected but wasn't sure, also I totally get it. I hate recommending myself, too. But I'm sure you're stuff is great and I would love to read it sometime, if I can find the free time and figure out how google translate works, hehe. Finally, glad you like Kelly, you are the first person to mention her. I really like her character and wanted to incorporate her here but I do feel like in cannon her ship with Marco felt a bit forced so I'm steering more toward a strong friendship. Plus, I just love KellyxTad.**

 **Meatpuppett- That is so sweet! Thanks, I'm honored! I will do my best to live up to my role! *bows humbly***

 **Moosedrool- Glad you like it! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

 **helloimant- Thanks! *W***

 **SystemeSolaire- Wow! I am truly honored! So glad you are enjoying considering you don't watch the show, I do make a lot of references, but it is my own thing. And yeah, I do my best to reduce errors, but I'm glad it's not too distracting. I understand not watching the show, it is still just amazing knowing you can like my work with no context to go off of, but yes plot driven fanfics are hard to come by. Thanks for the comment, I will continue to make this story the best I can!**

 **Next Update: 2 ½ weeks**


	16. Fight of Uncertain Death

Chapter 15: Fight of Uncertain Death

 **Hello again, Stardom! That's right, I'm alive and so happy to be posting for you all again! Yay! Ugh, I cannot believe it's been over _two months_ , I missed you all so much! And I am sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long and I swear I didn't do it on purpose. You see, it finally happened, my laptop has officially kicked the bucket (R.I.P.) as I was forced to finally put it out of my misery. Annnd then I immediately lost access to my friend's computer so I had to literally wait until I saved up enough money to buy a new desktop before I could even start on this one. So yeah, long story short, I have a new, beautiful desktop computer and a brain just filled with Starco- I mean story ideas, ha, ha.**

 **But before we get started, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone for your patience during this unfortunate waiting period (I know it was a long one) and for being the best, most amazing readers a writer could ever ask for! And for those of you who were sweet enough to leave a concerned comment for me, I really appreciate the thought! It meant a lot to me to know you care and I wanted to let you know that I am doing just fine.**

 **So, I know the wait was long, butttt I hope getting the longest chapter _to date_ will help make up for it and satisfy everyone's excitement. And no, that is not exaggeration, like seriously this one is over 18,000 words! That's the longest thing I've ever written, _ever_! Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

Every monster blinked, trying to clear their spotted vision from the sudden bright intrusion on their senses, trying to see the condition of their boss after the surprise attack from the princess. Star, as well, had left herself half-blind, but she did her best to not show the disadvantage, staring forward with a hard look, bracing herself for another attack. Though she knew her magical narwhal had to have hit its target, she was confused by the lack of any indication it had met its mark, no scream of pain, no gasp from his lackeys, just silence. A silence that continued to stretch out, unnerving the already panicked girl.

Finally, Star regained some of her senses, able to see the dark forest that surrounded her once again. She did a quick look around to see there were no monsters sneaking up on her, all of them too busy rubbing their eyes to notice her. Star allowed herself a small smile of victory as she turned to the feared lizard once again. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. If she kept her head, maybe she could get out of this fight in one piece.

But any hope she had shattered as she finally saw the condition of her fierce opponent, her mouth dropping open and her eyes widening in fear. Toffee, in fact, had not moved an inch, not knocked down or crushed or even scarred, just standing there, hands behind his back, giving her that same blank look from before, the narwhal she had launched collapsed against the tree behind him. _Did he seriously dodge it?_ Star thought in disbelief. "H-How did-" she muttered in disbelief, looking down at her wand as if it was somehow it's fault she had missed.

"Well I'll admit," Toffee spoke, sounding unimpressed. "I certainly wasn't expecting that. But I'm afraid if that's all you have, then you are extremely disappointing."

"Rainbow Fist!" Star screamed firing off another spell, shooting a glittering rainbow in the shape of a fist right at her hated enemy. And again, Toffee did nothing to dodge, just staring blankly at the incoming attack, then at the last second he held a claw out, the enchanted fist making contact with his claw. There was a bright flash of light, followed by a giant cloud of rainbow colored dust settling around the area, leaving several of the monsters coughing. But after a moment the multicolored smoke faded, Star smiling with pride at the sight of the lizard, his arm completely gone, destroyed in the attack.

"How's that for disappointing?!" Star taunted the so-called unbreakable monster, needing to come across as braver than she actually felt. She looked around at the rest of the monsters with a confident smirk, but to her surprise none of them seemed even slightly disturbed by the condition of their leader, in fact, their faces matched her own, even the lizard showing no pain or fear from losing one of his limbs. But before the royal could question the reason for this, Toffee spoke, "Did you really think it was going to be that easy, little princess?"

Star could only stare in horror as the monster leader's severed limb began to regrow itself, stretching and expanding outward at an alarming rate, in a matter of seconds the arm fully reformed. "H-How-" Star stuttered in terror, taking a few uncomfortable steps back, her fear showing once more. The lizard flexed the muscle, clenching his claw into a tight fist, to show the princess how truly futile the attack had been, Star no longer able to recognize any damage having ever been done. "What are you?" she muttered. But the lizard didn't answer, instead smiling wickedly at her, the first real show of emotion since his arrival, and Star felt her heart drop into her chest at the sight, shuddering against her will.

She tried to keep her hands steady as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Crystal Heart Daggers!" Her wand instantly reacting as it fired off the appropriate spell, the tiny sharp daggers heading right for the lizard. Once again her spell made contact, ripping and poking into the fearsome lizard, who looked more annoyed than hurt. And once again, any damage was repaired almost instantly, as he brushed the tiny crystals off of him and straightened out his suit.

But that didn't stop the frightened princess, as she fired off another spell, then another, and another, desperately trying to wear down the lizard, to make some sort of progress against him, fear for her survival making her lose all self-control as she shouted off every spell she knew or could think of in that panic-filled moment.

Finally, she stopped shooting, as her mind drew a blank on what to say next, having already recited every spell she knew from her book, panting heavily, as she stared hopelessly at the monster leader, his suit slightly singed, small clouds of smoke rising off of him, but otherwise unharmed. Now Star finally understood why no Mewman had ever survived in a fight against him, how he had come to be so feared by the people of Mewni, everything about him shrouded in mystery, not a soul able to tell what made the lizard so deadly and powerful, that secret now known only by Star. Toffee wasn't just tough, he was invincible, any hit someone managed to land on him would be reversed in a matter of seconds, even magic useless against his incredible healing abilities. How was she supposed to win against a creature that was relatively unbeatable?

"Are you finished?" the lizard said in a cool tone and Star only panted in response, glaring daggers at him. "Good," he continued, taking her silence for an answer, as he took a step closer to her. "Then I think we-"

"Super Glitter Bomb!" Star screamed, firing off a small glitter covered orb, which exploded the second it landed at Toffee's feet. For a few seconds, the forest was silent as the smoke cleared, the monsters staring wide-eyed, surprised by the courage of the young girl, most Mewmans at this point had given up any hope of winning and accepted their fate. Of course, this meant she was foolish as well. Star kept a firm gaze on the lizard as his dagger-like stare narrowed on her, clearly growing impatient with the girl, his body slowly healing from his injuries.

"I'm not giving up," she explained via hiss.

"How noble," Toffee dead-panned. He snapped his fingers and suddenly Star found herself surrounded by the monsters, growling as they all began to enclose in on the girl, rushing her from all sides. Star quickly became overwhelmed, as she had to dodge and weave her way around the monsters, shooting off spells when she could, doing her best not to get hit by the unending numbers of claws that swiped and grabbed at her, struggling to hold them at bay. Toffee just watched quietly from the sidelines, the sounds of grunting and screaming from combat echoing through the area, often accompanied by a bright burst from the girl's wand, waiting patiently as his lackeys began to slowly tire the princess, knowing it was only a matter of time before she was subdued. She was strong, yes, but inexperienced, she couldn't keep going forever, eventually the girl would slip up, and once she did then the game would be over. Yes, everything was going perfectly according to his plans, now all that was left was to wait for the final pawn to arrive.

...

Marco heard the explosions even from a distance, the loud booming sound echoing through the thick foliage that made up the Forest of Certain Death, the ground beneath his feet shuddering slightly as he ran. He turned to look behind him, Jackie and Janna still on his heels, the discouragement on their faces telling him they had heard the sound too.

The whole way there Marco had been hoping that he had been wrong about the trouble he suspected Star was in, that this whole thing wasn't a trap set up for his unsuspecting bestie, but he had been unable to shake the feeling that all was not right, the whole thing too methodical and suspicious to be nothing more than a bizarre coincidence. The timing was too perfect, an anti-portal generator going out in _that_ particular forest in the the middle of the night, just after a monster attack, there was no way, it had to be Toffee. And as Marco watched explosion after explosion litter the sky, too familiar to be anything else but Star's wand, he felt a cold twinge of fear flow through him, chilling him to the bone, every step only increasing his worry over Star's safety, as the dark treeline drew ever closer, the same three words looping themselves through Marco's panic-stricken mind over and over again, _please be alight, please be alright, please be alright_.

"Hey guys, don't look now but I think we've got another problem," Janna's voice suddenly called out, pulling Marco out of his daze as he looked behind him to see Janna looking over towards town, causing both him and Jackie to do the same.

It seemed the three friends weren't the only ones who had taken notice of the commotion, several of the townspeople coming out of their homes to try and spot the source of the disturbance, looking nervous and agitated as the colorful explosions lit up the sky within the dark forest that bordered their home, shifting uneasily on their feet and pointing to the sky with grim scowls, muttering amongst themselves as they tried to make sense of this seemingly troubling situation.

"Looks like Star's attracting an audience," Janna finished.

"That can't be good," Jackie said, her normally smooth tone troubling to the boy.

"Why, do you think their all gonna freak out like before when that statue got broken?" Marco asked worriedly.

"Well they do look like almost mob levels," Janna said.

There was a short moment of silence as the three ran, looking at the increasingly anxious crowd with concern. Finally Jackie said in a low tone, "We better hurry."

Marco and Janna nodded in agreement, the hooded boy increasing his pace, the thick treeline growing ever closer, as the ground around him shook and rumbled. He was starting to grow tired, his legs aching and screaming at him to slow down, but he pushed himself on, finding Star more important to him than a little discomfort. He didn't think he would feel comfort again until he found his bestie, until he knew she was safe from all the dangers that he had brought on her. He felt his stomach twist with guilt as a realization came to him, this was his fault. He was the reason Star was probably fighting for her life right then, he never should have come, shouldn't have been stupid enough to think that he could escape Toffee. He needed to make this right. He had to fix this, somehow. Even if that meant facing the dreaded lizard again. Marco held back a shudder as his gaze, once again, drifted upward, just in time to see a bright purple light streak into the sky, the hooded boy quietly muttering something under his breath, as if afraid the forest might overhear, before forcing his way through the thick foliage that bordered the Forest of Certain Death, Jackie and Janna close behind. "Hang on, Star. We're on our way, I promise."

But, unfortunately for the boy, his whispered vow hadn't gone completely unheard, the small fly monster had overheard every word clearly from his hiding spot in the trees. And what the boy in the red hood also wasn't aware of, was the thousands of tiny eyes trained directly on him as he headed deeper into the forest, Boo Fly needing to make sure to keep a close watch on the young one for what was about to happen next.

…

Star swallowed down the lump in her throat, as she realized how hopeless this situation was becoming. Here she was alone and unguarded, surrounded by monsters, and facing off against an unbeatable foe with no chance of rescue. Not to mention the fact that with every second that passed she was growing weaker and weaker, panting heavily as she desperately dodged and weaved her way around the enemies that scratched and clawed at her, shooting off every spell she could think of, the forest around her growing more and more singed and destroyed, the smell of smoke filling the air. But even with her wand, she was still at the disadvantage, having to be careful not to hit any of the unconscious guards, some of the monsters picking up on this and making sure to stand between the princess and her comatose protectors. One such monster, a big alligator with a very human looking arm, tried this strategy, trying to lung at the girl from her blind spot only to be met with the backside of her wand, as she smacked it as hard into his face as she could, cringing as she hoped she hadn't damaged the magical device from the spur of the moment reaction, stepping out of the way, as the amphibian monster landed hard at her feet.

She was holding her own for now, the monsters becoming weary of getting too close, knowing it would only be met with a supercharged hit from the girl's overpowered wand, instead circling around her, looking for an opening, knowing she couldn't watch all of them at once, all the while Toffee just calmly watched the scene from the background, claws behind his back, a blank, unamused look on his face, which infuriated Star to no end.

He was toying with her, trying to wear her down before going in for the kill, she had no idea what the monster had in store for her, whether he intended to simply kill her right there or try and hold her for ransom or perhaps something much worse, but whatever the outcome, she knew she couldn't allow herself to fail, knowing it wouldn't end well for her or the rest of Mewni. She had to get away, had to escape, or at the very least find a place where she was at a bit more of a tactical advantage and not prohibited from using her wand fully. She needed a plan, but what? Whatever she did, she needed to think of it _fast_ , before she grew too tired, already starting to feel her limbs grow sore from overwork, her panicked adrenaline beginning to wear out as exhaustion took its place.

The girls' thoughts were interrupted as the bear monster nearly got a crucial hit on her, the girl moving out of the way at the last moment, his claws coming inches away from her face, Star feeling the air whoosh past her face as she ducked low to the ground, but she recovered quickly, holding her wand point blank out at the already singed monster and shouting at the top of her lungs, "Cotton Candy Devastation Blast!"

"Not again!" Bearicorn whined, as the magic in Star's wand finished gathering.

…

Marco heard the explosion followed by a loud yell echo around them, a hot air brushing against his face, smiling widely as he realized how close by it sounded, able to pinpoint the location of the struggle. He turned around to yell something to Jackie and Janna. "Hey gu-"

But he never got to finish his sentence, as his foot bumped up against a rope tripping him and sending him tumbling to the hard, forest floor, while behind him a thick net was sent hurtling to the ground, falling right on top of the girls, throwing them both to the ground under its crushing weight.

Marco sat up, staring in horror at his two now trapped friends. "Jackie! Janna!" he yelled.

Jackie coughed, trying to gain some air back in her lungs, all of it knocked out of her from the collision with the ground, her roommate's heavy body squished on top of her making it difficult to do so. "I'm okay," Jackie managed to squeak out, hearing the boy's panicked voice calling out to them, trying to sit up and get her bearings back. "I think," she added, upon finding her movements restricted by the net. "Janna you good?"

"Define good," Janna's labored voice called out, sounding just as breathless as Jackie's. "Because this is not my ideal definition."

"Can you use your monster strength to get us out?" Jackie asked, ignoring Janna's comment.

"I'll try," came the strained reply. And in a second, the creepy girl had switched over to her monster form, trying to wriggle her way into a good position to try and pull the ropes apart. But once she had she was surprised to find them far more durable than she anticipated, the beanie-wearing girl grunting as she strained against the thick and tangled web of ropes that currently held the girl's hostage. "Come. On. Just. Break. Already." she grunted, gritting her teeth, putting every once of energy in her body into snapping the heavy knots, but found herself unable to get them to tear even a little, in fact the more she tugged the stronger they seemed to become.

Finally, she sighed, letting her aching arms rest, surprised to find the normally-simple task draining to her all of sudden, panting heavily as she rubbed her sore wrists. "It's no good. I can't break through them."

"What? But how?" Jackie yelled in surprise, unsure how her incredibly strong roommate was unsuccessful in breaking a few simple ropes, something which normally should be second nature to Janna. "How did we even get in this mess?"

"I don't know, considering the way they had this trap set up its an incredible coincidence we even ended up getting stuck in this."

Jackie gave Janna the stink eye, well as best she could from underneath her, saying in an unamused tone. "Not helping."

Marco looked back in the direction Star was in, worry still clinging tightly to his insides, he was so close, he could practically feel her presence even from that distance and for a moment he was tempted to run on ahead and leave the other two behind. But he knew he couldn't do that, not to them, as scared as he was for Star, he couldn't just leave Jackie and Janna alone to fend for themselves, they needed Marco far more at the moment than his super-powered princess.

And so with one last longing look, he rose to his feet, calling, "Hang on, I'll get you two free," before racing over to the two. But as it turned out the weak boy was far weaker than he thought, barely able to lift the heavy ropes much less pull them completely off his struggling friends. "Wow, this thing is heavy," he said, trying to fiddle with the surprisingly complicated series of knots to no avail. "And these knots are really thick, I'm not sure if I can loosen them."

"I know," Janna agreed, trying to help the boy unravel the net, as well. "For a bunch of idiots, they do tie a surprisingly good knot."

"Maybe you can bite it off?" Jackie suggested, trying to move into a more comfortable position so she could help but her arms were pinned uselessly to her side and her body was still trapped underneath her roommate, making her more dead weight than any form of help.

"I'm not sure my teeth are that strong," Marco said honestly, trying to concentrate on untying the firm knots.

Janna rolled her eyes. "Uh, Marco..."

Marco stopped for a second looking at the creepy girl, who raised a knowing eyebrow at him, the reality finally sinking in. "Ohhhh," he said, sheepishly. "She was talking to you, wasn't she?" He slowly pointed to Janna, who nodded.

"Yep," Janna said. "And in answer to your question, Jacks, that would be a big fat no."

"Why not?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, come on, Jan. How else are we supposed to get out?" Jackie pleaded, but the half-monster girl only scoffed in reply.

"Do you know how unsanitary that is. We don't even know where this rope has been. Besides, my teeth aren't exactly the strongest part of my body."

Jackie sighed. "Marco, maybe you should just go on ahead without us," she suggested, but Marco instantly shook his head.

"No way, I'm not leaving you two here," he said determined, analyzing the ropes for any weaknesses. But the three were so caught up in their struggle to free themselves, that they didn't even see the shadow slowly darkening over them, as they tugged against the relentless net.

"Well, well,well." The two girls and Marco looked up from their uncomfortable position on the floor in shock, only to see Beard Deer standing over them, giving the two trapped teens a sinister look. In half a second, he had grabbed Marco by the arm and pulled him to his feet, holding the boy by the hood to keep him from escaping.

"Marco!" Jackie screamed in concern, seeing the boy struggling in the monster's grip.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a little Impure and a Mewman to boot," the monster continued, sneering at the two girls triumphantly. But neither Jackie or Janna showed any fear over their predicament, glaring at the monster furiously, Janna showing off her fangs in an attempt to psyche the monster out, a thick tension filling the already uneasy forest. "And I can't think you enough for bringing Marco back to us safely." His eyes for just a second jumped to the frightened Marco, clearly gloating over how easily he had recaptured the child.

"Hey hands off the kid!" Janna screamed. "Unless you want a repeat of earlier tonight, tough guy!"

Beard Deer laughed cruelly at that. "Go ahead and try it, Impure. You couldn't break through those ropes if you wanted to. It's infused with magic, the more you pull the stronger it gets. We had it made special just for you." Janna said nothing, just glaring hate-filled daggers at the monster, as she continued to struggle against her bonds, ignoring the exhaustion she felt with every tug.

"Beard Deer?" Marco suddenly pitched in, his voice a hurt whisper, looking at the monster with glossy eyes, hoping to try and talk him out of his evil scheme.

But the monster ignored the sharp pain in his gut from the boy's broken stare, having to remind himself that Marco wasn't behaving normally, he was being controlled by the Mewmans, he couldn't let the boy get to him, so instead he shifted his attention back to the two girls, giving them a death glare. "Not now, Marco!" he snapped, the boy flinching from the scolding tone and going silent, unable to think of a time when he had ever heard the monster talk so severely toward him.

"You thought you were so clever didn't you, Impure," Beard Deer mocked. "So cocky and confident, acting all high and mighty. Well, look where it's gotten you. Completely at the mercy of the very monster you made a punching bag out of not a few hours before."

Janna's eyes narrowed on the monster with every insult, keeping her mouth sealed shut. "And now, even as we speak, your precious princess is fighting for her life against the most feared monster in all of Mewni."

Though Jackie hated herself for it, she was unable to stop her eyes from widening in terror and even Janna looked concerned for the princess' safety. But Marco looked the most torn up, his face scrunched up with worry, his own safety forgotten his thoughts only on his endangered bestie, a sense of hopelessness beginning to fill him as he realized he wouldn't be able to reach her in time. He felt hot tears beginning to gather at the corners of his eyes, his gaze looking helplessly in the direction of his beautiful bestie, as he quietly muttered in pain, "Star."

…

Toffee was feeling confident. Though his outside emotions remained the same, inside he felt a growing sense of pleasure coursing through his veins like fire, as he watched his game slowly growing to a close, the girl obviously on the brink of exhaustion as she did her best to hold his elite monsters at bay, her last attack leaving them all a sticky, pink mess, the bear monster groaning in pain at her feet. He admitted it was surprising how much of a fight the princess had put up, capturing her taking far longer than he would have liked, her wand truly was a weapon to fear... in the right hands, anyways. But he hardly felt she was adequate for the job, her spells rather erratic and lackluster in his mind, more of a hodge-podge of adolescent daydreams than practiced spells. Her brave little attempt to save herself was cute, but hopeless. He had already calculated everything down to the smallest fraction and, though she didn't know it, the girl had lost this fight the second she stepped into the forest.

Suddenly, the lizard heard a familiar buzzing and turned to see Boo Fly approaching, his calculations still on point, as the small fly's appearance confirmed to Toffee that Marco had finally arrived there and that he was behaving as predictable as could be, unable to resist helping his little girlfriend from danger by falling right into the awaiting trap. The lizard turned his attention away from the stubborn, unknowing girl and onto his spy, who was eagerly awaiting to give his report.

"Boo Fly," he greeted dryly, wanting to get straight to the point as always. "Has our other guest finally arrived?"

"Yezz, Mazzter Toffee," the fly monster began, keeping his voice at a whisper, so as not to be overheard. "Beard Deer izz already with him azz we zzpeak."

"Excellent," Toffee replied, all business. "And the Impure?"

"Taken care of," his minion buzzed evilly. "She fell for our trick just azz you predicted she would."

"Good. Then everything is going according to plan." Toffee allowed himself a small smile of victory. In a matter of moments he would have Marco back and the Princess of Mewni to boot. Yes, everything was coming along nicely.

Star kept a close watch on the lizard out of the corner of her eye, his attention having shifted away from her and to some fly monster thing, the lizard muttering something to the creature under his breath, the look in his eyes giving her the chills. Though she couldn't understand what they were saying, she could tell that the lizard was obviously too preoccupied with his minion to notice what was happening on the battlefield, clearly whatever they were discussing more important than even the inevitable capture of the crown princess, but in Star's mind this was a blessing in disguise, feeling a spark of hope ignite in her, giving her strength. Toffee was distracted and the other monsters were still trying to recover from her last attack, this was it, there would be no better moment to escape.

 _Now's my chance_ , she thought to herself, steeling her nerve, her grip tightening on the wand. All she had to do was lure them away somehow and then at least the guards would be safe from harm, Star knowing her men would be easily bypassed over her, Star being the more valuable prize. Still, she had no idea what she was going to do to escape, but whatever it was she needed to do it now while she had the lizard off-guard, her brain trying desperately to think of something to get her out of there.

…

"I warned you before, didn't I?" Beard Deer continued to gloat, his eyes narrowing on the hated Impure with every insult, who had gone completely silent, not letting an ounce of emotion show, giving him an empty stare. "I told you we would be taking back what was ours." Beard Deer emphasized this point by pulling out a pair of dimensional scissors from his pocket and cutting open the swirling portal.

Marco, feeling a desperate need to act turned to the monster who held him, once again. "Beard Deer, please, you don't have to do this!" he begged, giving him the most pleading look he could muster, the kind of look he knew the deer monster would be powerless to resist.

And in fact he was right, Beard Deer having to look away from the boy and directing his attention to the floor instead. "I know what you and the other monster have been doing," the boy continued, his voice chocked and tight. "That you've been killing Mewmans and that you choose to keep that from me, and that hurt a lot! But I don't believe for one minute that you're really evil. Because I know that deep down you would never want to hurt anyone. So please, you don't have to let Master Toffee control you! You can do the right thing."

For a second, Marco thought he had gotten through to the monster, Beard Deer staring at him silently, the two eyes locked with one another, Marco's pleading and Beard Deer's conflicted, and the hooded boy felt his heart filling with hope. Maybe Beard Deer would listen and let Marco and the girls go. Maybe he would actually turn against Toffee and help join them to stop his evil. And if he joined, then the others might join, too. Then they could all work together and save Star.

But the boy's naive hopes were dashed as the monster finally spoke, his voice a dull mummer of unsettled emotions, "I'm sorry, Marco. But... it's too late for that."

Before the boy could even react, Beard Deer began pushing him toward the portal, the boy screaming at the top of his lungs, as fear took hold of him once again, closing his eyes tight against the swirling vortex he was about to be consumed by.

…

Star, still struggling to form some kind of plan, suddenly heard a very familiar sound echo through the treetops around her, a loud yelling from a voice she would recognize anywhere. "Marco!" she screamed, her wand reacting to her sudden fear, as the whole thing began to glow pure white, the brightness intensifying with every second that passed. Toffee hearing the girl's scream, hastily turned away from his subordinate to see the girl's glowing wand, his eyes for just a second widening, sensing what was about to happen, trying to shout his warning to the other monsters. "Stop he-" Then suddenly, the world exploded into an overwhelmingly bright light, as the magic in the wand finally released itself, coating the dark forest in its glow, blinding anyone unfortunate enough to be within close proximity of the beam, several of the monsters screaming in pain as their sensitive, night vision enhanced pupils burned from the sudden intensity.

…

The light spread outward at a rapid rate, managing to shine through to the area where Marco and the others were, taking all of them by surprise, the hooded boy the only one fortunate enough to have his eyes closed at the time, the rest all screaming in pain from the blinding beam, Beard Deer dropping the boy to try and cover his shell-shocked eyes as best he could as he continued to cry out in pain. Finally, after an agonizing few seconds, the light ceased and everyone paused panting, waiting for their senses to return to normal. Marco, from his position on the floor took quick note of his surroundings, having to blink a few times to get his bearings, looking up to see Beard Deer above him, his eyes blood-shot feeling around blindly for any signs of life around him, any signs of remorse now gone from the monster replaced instead with pure rage and hate. "Ah, my eyes," the deer monster screamed in pain, as he stumbled around the forest drunkenly, Marco having to move out of the way to keep the monster from tripping over him. "That was a cheap trick, Impure! And it's gonna cost you!"

Marco, reminded of his two still trapped friends, looked over to the net worriedly, but was surprised to find only Jackie trapped within the compounds of the net, squinting as she tried to get her bearings, Janna nowhere to be found. Marco hoped that maybe Jackie would have some kind of idea of where the creepy girl could have gone off to, but from the looks of it the skater was equally confused as to the location of her roommate, though she did seem far more comfortable without the crushing weight of Janna pinning her down, finally able to move around somewhat freely within the restrictive net.

But Beard Deer was in no way aware of any of this, still spilling out worthless threats to the missing Impure as he tripped his way around the dimly lit area, while Marco did a thorough scan of the forest, looking for any signs of his creepy friend. "All you did was make things a million times worse for yourself! Because, in case you've forgotten, girlie, you're still trapped. And once I get my sight back, I'm gonna teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

Marco stood, having no luck in spying his missing friend, and yelled without thinking, "Janna?!" The boy instantly regretted this action, as Beard Deer swerved on his heels in the direction of the sound he had heard, facing Marco, who tried to slowly back away from the now incoming monster.

"Marco? Is that you? Where are you?" the monster grunted, trying to decipher the blurry images in front of him from one another and spot the boy. But suddenly he saw a splurge of red and knew it couldn't be anything else other than the bright red of Marco's hoodie, a style the boy seemed to have picked up at some point while he was away.

Marco felt his heart stop as Beard Deer's focus landed on him and he knew he had been discovered, nervously saying, "Uh no, no it's not me, it's someone else." He did his best to deepen his voice so as to not be recognized but it did nothing to fool Beard Deer in the slightest.

"Marco get over here right now, young man," the deer monster scolded.

"Marco run!" the blinded Jackie called, not sure what was going on, but from the sound of it her hooded friend was in trouble again. The boy obeyed the skater's instructions as he continued to back away from Beard Deer, his eyes nervously scanning the forest around him.

"Uh, Janna?" Marco called quietly, still unsure where the girl was or if she was even still around.

Meanwhile, the deer monster eyes finally began to adjust to the dark, seeing the fleeing child clearly again. "Marco I said come here," the monster said.

"Janna, now would be a good time to help me!" the boy tried again, louder than before, having to jump back to avoid getting grabbed by Beard Deer, who was hoping to catch Marco by surprise. But the action was not without consequences as, suddenly, much to Marco's dismay, his back hit a tree, trapping him as the monster drew ever closer.

"Janna I need you!" Marco cried in panic, trying to push himself as far against the tree as he could in feeble hopes of somehow holding the monster off.

"Enough, Marco," Beard Deer said, becoming annoyed with the boy's stubbornness. "Stop fight me, you're Impure friend can't save you, that net is made of magic." He pointed behind him to the trapped Jackie, but didn't even bother to turn around, confident in the half-monster girl's capture. "Not even her monster form is strong enough to get through that."

"Good thing I have more than one form then, huh?" a smirky voice called from above, Marco overjoyed and Beard Deer dismayed and confused to hear it, the two looking up to see a small purple bat drop down from the treetops, transforming mid-air back into Janna, who landed gracefully between Marco and the awestruck monster.

"Janna!" Marco screamed in admiration, throwing his arms up in air in celebration, moving in so as to give his half-monster friend a grateful hug, the girl somehow sensing this as she turned to him and said, "Not now, Marco! Hugs after the fight!"

"Oh, right. Sorry," he sheepishly apologized, lowering his hands and taking a step away from the girl.

"What, but how?!" Beard Deer screamed, looking back to the net, then back to the smirking teen, then back to the net with growing confusion. "How did you- Were you just a _bat_?!"

Janna shrugged, looking as nonchalant as ever. "What can I say, I'm full of surprises." Then, with lightning speed she swung at the monster, catching him by surprise and managing to send him flying back where he crashed hard into a tree.

Jackie, who had watched the whole thing from her crapped position on the ground, yelled over to Janna with an annoyed scowl, "You couldn't have just done that earlier!"

To which Janna simply shrugged and said, "I was just waiting for the right moment!"

"And two minutes ago when Marco was about to be sent through a portal wasn't the 'right moment'?!" Jackie retorted.

"See, I knew you'd understand," Janna answered, giving the skater girl a playful smirk. Then, out of nowhere, her smirk dropped as she directed her attention to Marco as if surprised he was still there, shouting, "What are you still doing here, Marco?! Go find Star! I'll handle this guy!" Marco was completely taken aback by the girl's bizarre mood shift, all joking mannerisms pushed aside, as she spoke to the boy in a serious, level-headed tone.

Still, Marco couldn't help but respond by asking, "Are you sure?" Still feeling reluctant to leave his friend alone to fight.

Janna rolled her eyes, before saying sarcastically, "Am I sure I can handle one badly dressed, stupid monster all by myself? Yeah, I'm sure."

"Hey!" Beard Deer growled, looking annoyed at the comment, slowly beginning to recover from the painful ordeal, shooting the half-monster girl daggers of death, making Marco even more reluctant to leave.

"But what about Jackie?" Marco pointed out.

"Just go, dude," the skater called, not looking the slightest bit concerned by the situation. "I'll be fine."

Marco bit his lip, torn between his bestie and his two close friends, not sure who needed him more.

"Look," Janna said persuasively, seeing the boy's uncertainty, putting a hand on his shoulder to silence his thoughts. "We don't have time to argue about this. Star needs help _now_ and this monster isn't going down without a fight. And to be perfectly honest with you, right now you're more in the way than anything else." Janna gave him a small, apologetic smile, possibly the most real and genuine one she had ever given him, before lightly pushing him in the direction of Star. "So just go. We'll catch up as soon as we can."

Marco looked back for a moment, as if seeking permission, asking, "Promise?"

"Promise," Janna said, with another reassuring smile, which did manage to soothe the majority of the boy's fears... though not all. Still, he knew she was right. Now wasn't the time for him to break down with worry, he needed to focus on the more important task at hand, finding Star, he would just have to trust Janna and Jackie to be able to handle themselves on their own. So he swallowed down the lump in his throat, giving the girl a small nod before heading off after Star and Toffee with no hesitation in his step.

Beard Deer, finally (mostly) recovered from the super-charged hit, spotted the boy's exit and quickly started after him, hoping to stop him before he reached Toffee and made a mess of their careful planning, that was until the hated Impure stepped into his path, looking as cocky as ever as she called to him, "Hey, muscles! Where do you think you're going?!"

Beard Deer felt red hot anger course through him as he stared at his hated opponent, who looked comfortable and relaxed there in the middle of the Forest of Certain Death. "Out of my way, Impure!" he hissed, every word just littered with venom.

"Oh come on," Janna taunted, shooting him a knowing grin and he felt his rage explode at the look, his teeth grinding together as he growled, his hands clenched into extra tight fists, as he tried his very hardest to remind himself of the mission and not to get distracted on petty revenge. "Didn't I recall you saying something about teaching me a lesson?"

There was a short pause from the girl as she leaned forward, her eyes narrowing smoothly, giving him a deceptive grin, saying slowly but surely, "So then by all means... teach me."

Beard Deer released an infuriated yell, before running at the girl full-force, while Janna, never losing her smile, just waited patiently as the monster drew ever closer to her, not even bothering to raise so much as a fist against him. Until finally, he got close enough to hit her, sending his enclosed fist right at her face, but found himself hitting air as she cleverly grabbed the monster's wrist, using his weight against him as she flipped him easily over her shoulder, where he smashed hard into the uncomfortable forest floor with a pained grunt. Marco for just a second looked back, hearing the monster's scream and Janna shot him a reassuring smile, giving him a quick thumbs up to let him know she had it handled, waiting until he disappeared into the forest's undergrowth before turning her attention back to the monster, who was struggling to stand after his painful encounter with the ground, holding him arm tightly.

She bent down so she was level with the monster, who glared daggers at her. "So, maybe wanna try that one again, buddy?" Janna asked, the monster finding her tone irritating. He growled, as he swung carelessly at her again, his clawed fist meeting her open palm, pain shooting up his arm as he realized too late how injured his arm actually was and he screamed. "Ow, ow, OW!"

Jackie, watching the whole display with growing skepticism as she tried to untangle the mass of net around her, heard the monster scream and rolled her eyes, saying softly to herself, "Jeez and I thought Tom had a temper."

...

Star blinked, standing frozen in bewilderment, her wand still raised in front of her, as around her the monsters stumbled around blindly, bumping into one another, as they all either groaned in pain or yelled out their fellow companions names in hopes of a reply, clearly discombobulated from losing their vision and most of them still restricted by the cotton candy that coated the ground. Though they weren't the only ones experiencing confusion at the moment.

As crazy as it seemed, Star had no idea how exactly she had just managed to blind the entire battlefield of monsters, the unexpected spell coming out of seemingly nowhere. It wasn't like she had shouted off any kind of spell or anything, heck she had still been busy trying to think of a plan, the sudden action taking her as much by surprise as it had the monsters, though somehow leaving her vision untouched. Had she somehow performed a spell without having to cast or even think of one at all?

In fact, if she didn't know any better she could have sworn that the wand had acted all on its own, something that should have been impossible, the magical device somehow reacting to her fear when she had heard Marco scream. Wait. Marco! Star felt a new fear cling to her, a sense of overwhelming panic as she remembered the terror she had just heard in her bestie's voice, several worrying thoughts jumbling around in her head for a moment, all of which only managed to frighten her more. What was he doing there?! Why did he scream?! Did the monsters get him?! Was he okay?! That last thought stuck out in her brain, filling her with a deep dread.

And so, without another thought, she held her wand downward toward the ground, shouting, "Bunny Rocket Blast!" A magical stream releasing itself from her wand, boosting her over the blinded monsters, sailing gracefully over their heads, before landing lightly on her feet, racing forward in the direction of the boy... she hoped. "Hang on Marco, I'm coming!" she screamed into the dark abyss around her, pushing herself forward as hard and fast as she could.

"The girl's getting away. Don't let her escape," Toffee called his monsters to attention, looking the least affected out of them from losing one of his senses, though behind his back and out of the rest of the monster's view his claws had clenched into extra tight fists.

"Yes, Master Toffee," all the monsters responded doing blind salutes, before growling as they all tried to chase after the runaway princess, which quickly turned into chaos as all they managed to do in their sightless condition was trip and crash into each other, none sure which way the girl was heading, causing several of the monsters to start bickering with anger, giving the princess even more time to put distance between herself and her pursuers.

"Ow! Watch it!"

"You watch it!"

"Hey, get off me!"

"Out of my way, the girl went this way!"

"No, she went the other way, you idiot!"

"You're the idiot!"

"Hey, hey hey, guys, I think I got her, _I think I got her_!"

"Ow! No you idiot, that's me!"

"Oh, sorry Bearicorn!"

And as the hectic arguing of Toffee's most "elite" monsters filled his ears all the lizard could do was sigh and mumble under his breath, "Worthless idiots."

He had often times wondered if this had somehow been Buff Frog's way of getting back at him, requesting a bunch of monster with little to no talent whatsoever, just to make his mission a bit more difficult and Toffee felt his anger burn at the thought. _You truly believed you had beaten me didn't you, Buff Frog,_ the lizard thought. _Thought you could turn the most feared monster in the world into a laughingstock. But we'll just have to wait and see who has the last laugh once I have you're little Marco in my clutches, now won't we?_

…

Meanwhile, a safe distance away from the maddened monsters, Star continued to push her way through the Forest of Certain Death using her wand to light the way, retracing her steps, as she fought against the tangled vines and vegetation that now seemed to constantly block her path, as if the forest itself was trying to keep her from Marco, her thoughts racing as she pushed onward with excess force, worry over Marco making her frantic. She was so focused on finding Marco, in fact, that she barely even noticed as stray bushes and brambles jumped out at her, cutting her in odd places as she went, the adrenaline in her body numbing the pain and her own exhaustion, her heart pounding wildly both out of fear for Marco and from pushing herself to go faster in hopes of reaching the boy quicker.

She turned to look behind her, making sure there were no monster behind her, but it seemed she had actually managed to escape them, for now, but if she wasn't careful they would find her again. Which meant Star needed to get out of the dangerous forest as quickly as possible. Except, Marco was there now too, and she couldn't, _wouldn't_ , leave him behind to fend for himself, not with Toffee still lurking about. Star felt a chill run up her spine at the thought of the lizard meeting Marco again. He had mentioned him by name, did he know he was in the forest, too? Had he come to not only capture the Crown Princess of Mewni, but also exact his revenge on the only Mewman who ever managed to elude him. The thought of it made Star sick to her stomach. If he found Marco before she did...

 _No_ , Star told herself, her hands clenching into tight fists, forcing the rebellious thought out of her head. _I won't let that happen. I'm not going to let that lizard lay so much as a finger on my Marco._ But her determined thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps approaching and the rattling of leaves as someone seemed to be fighting their way through the harsh vegetation in front of her. Before Star could even begin to ponder what that meant, Marco came crashing out of the bushes, screaming as he spotted the girl in front of him. And Star, who also shrieked in surprise, managed to slow her pace enough to keep from crashing into the boy, coming to a stop just in front of him, both lit up from the glow of the girl's wand.

"Marco!" Star screamed, her voice cracking, overjoyed to see her bestie unharmed.

Marco, as well, felt relief flood through him at the sight of his best friend, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Star!"

And then, at the exact same time, the two threw their arms around each other in a tearful hug, squeezing each other tightly, as the fear they had been experiencing finally melted off of them, feeling safe in each other's arms. Suddenly, nothing else mattered, Toffee and the secrets and the monsters and the danger all faded away, until only their hug remained. "I'm so glad you're okay!" the young royal admitted, holding on tightly to the boy she had been afraid she had lost, comforted by the mere feeling of him against her.

"You too," Marco replied, burying his head into her shoulder. "I was really worried."

"How did you know where I was?"

"I saw your explosions and followed them here," the boy quickly explained, Star feeling her heart drop at his words. Suddenly, the fear came flooding back to her, the moment broken, as she remembered where they were, acutely aware of all the dangers and shadows that lurked just out of reach from the two. She broke off the hug, much to Marco's surprise, looking deep into his brown eyes, her happiness replaced instead with fear, which Marco could see shining in her bright blue pupils, feeling his own fear return as he realized this was the most frightened he had ever seen his bestie. "You can't be here," she said, sounding panicked, looking around her as if afraid something might jump out at them at any minute. "You need to get out of her, _now_ ," she added, giving him a little push away from her.

"No way, Star, I'm not- " Marco started to argue, but the girl didn't let him finish.

"No, you don't understand, Marco," Star cried, breathlessly, practically shaking with fear, as she grabbed onto his shoulders. "It isn't safe." She hesitated, conflicted on telling the boy the truth, unsure on how or if he could take it, before ultimately deciding that like it or not, he had to know. "There... There are monsters everywhere! They attacked me and I managed to get away, but they're still out there, looking for me, right now. And if they find us, they'll, they'll..." Star's voice cut off, unable to finish the chilling thought, having to lean against the boy to keep herself steady.

She let out a shaky breath before continuing. "So you need to get out of here as soon as you can."

"No." Star froze, completely shocked by the firmness in the boy's tone and the bravery she saw shining in his eyes, instead of the fearful look she had been expecting. Though there had been a slight quiver in his voice, otherwise he seemed to be taking the news far better than the girl expected, Star sure he would go into a full-blown panic attack upon the mere mention of the monsters in the woods, much less the fact that he and Star were now being hunted by them. "No. I'm not leaving you, Star." Marco paused for a minute, obviously feeling conflicted about something, closing his eyes tight as he added, "Besides, you're not the only one they want. They're here for me, too. They're here... because of me." Star felt a lump form in her throat, as the boy's voice cracked, sniffing as he tried to regain his composure. Star thought for a moment, letting the boy's words sink in. So Star's suspicion had been correct. Toffee was planning on doing away with the both of them, luring them easily into his trap, like moths to a flame. Star felt an anger burn through her, frustrated at herself for allowing both herself and Marco to fall victim to the venomous lizard.

Finally, Star took in a deep, shaky breath to try and calm herself, knowing what she had to do, her need to protect the boy far greater than anything else right then, forcing herself to stand up straighter, giving the boy a level-headed stare as she spoke, a grave resolve in her voice. "I won't let that happen, Marco. I'm not gonna let them hurt you. As far as I can tell, the monsters don't know you're here yet, which means there's still a chance for you to make it out of this alive. If I lead them away from you that might buy you enough time to-"

"No, you can't do that, Star. I won't let you. There's got to be another way," Marco exclaimed, sounding desperate, his brain trying eagerly to come up with some kind of plan. "We can make it through this together. Y'know like we did in that yarn thing's cave."

And right then, Star had an idea, Marco's words striking some kind of cord in her brain, the girl going stock still, her eyes widening to the size of saucers, her sky blue pupils dazed and out of focus, her cheek marks switching to glowing light bulbs, as a plan began to form in her mind, the little gears in her head going a mile a minute as they tried to work out every little detail of her scheme. _Yes_ , she thought to herself. _That might actually work._ A small smile graced her lips, as she finally returned her focus onto her friend, who looked very confused and concerned over the girl's odd behavior. "Marco," she said softly, cupping his cheeks in her hands, her eyes shimmering in admiration. "You're a genius!

"I am?" Marco said, raising an eyebrow, still lost as to what exactly he had done or said that qualified him as being a genius.

"Yes!" the girl squealed, before grabbing on tightly to his hand, dragging him quickly behind her, as she ran off deeper into the woods. "Come on!"

"Wait, Star, where are we going?" Marco called after the girl, dumbfounded, trying to keep pace with the over-eager girl, having to force his sore legs to keep moving as they cried out for more rest.

"You'll see," Star yelled over her shoulder, distracted as she tried to recall the path she had taken before, looking around for any familiar clues that told her she was going the right direction.

"But shouldn't we be heading away from the monsters?" Marco asked with concern.

"Trust me," was all Star said, but the confidence in her voice silenced the boy's worrying thoughts, Marco deciding to just go along with whatever the girl had planned, knowing she wouldn't lead him astray. Besides it wasn't like he had any kind of a plan. So, he quickened his pace, following after her willingly, having complete faith in his bestie and he squeezed her hand just a little bit tighter to let her know that.

Star, for just a moment, lost focus, as she felt a gentle squeeze in the palm of her hand, her twin hearts thumping once in response, followed by a soft whisper behind her. "Okay. I trust you, Star."

…

Janna was definitely winning. Though Beard Deer would never, _ever_ admit to it, he was out of his league, the Impure far too powerful for him to handle on his own, her mutated blood giving her the strength to take on a large group of monster, and he was struggling to gain an upper hand by himself. Even though he was giving it his all, every punch fueled purely by his rage, there was very little he could do to throw off the smirking half-breed, unsuccessful in landing even a single hit on her yet. On the other hand, every unfortunate encounter with the super strong girl's fists was met with a far greater price, as painful vibrations surged through his already sore body. The only reason Beard Deer had lasted as long as he had was the fact that while the girl was strong she was clearly inexperienced in a fight, her technique sloppy and easy to dodge for the already trained killer, but it was only a matter of time before that changed.

Janna took note of her opponents weakening condition, his strength seeming to diminish with every hit, his breath becoming ragged and his eyes pain-filled, and she decided to take the time to taunt the tiring monster, giving him a knowing smile, "What's the matter? Tired? Or are you just now realizing you're gonna lose?"

In that moment, Beard Deer felt a last wave of energy fill him as a blind rage overtook him, her words striking a nerve in the monster's anger-filled mind. How dare she insult him! This was all her fault, after all. Thanks to her, everything was ruined, all their careful planning meaningless. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, at this point the half-monster girl was supposed to be subdued and Marco recaptured. But thanks to her and her stupid tricks, that had all fallen apart and Beard Deer had no doubt when this was all over Toffee would punish him severely for his failure. Even though she was the one who had taken Marco away from him, having no doubt she was somehow involved in the boy's kidnapping in the first place and all he wanted was to make her pay for her interfering, wanting nothing more than to wipe that annoying smirk off her face, his body reacting to his twisted desire, moving on its own, lunging at the girl with a new ferocity, putting all his anger and hate into the single attack.

Janna seemed genuinely surprised by the tired monsters sudden action and though the girl managed to block it at the last second the impulsive attack had caught her off guard, her shifting feet betraying her as she was pushed back a few inches, leaving her wide open for another attack. Beard Deer, still in his maddened state didn't let up his assault, hitting her with a barrage of blows, too many for his inexperienced opponent to handle, as his one of his fists managed to make contact with her gut, sending the girl flying back, where she slammed hard into the ground, before skidding to an uncomfortable stop right by the still-opened portal that Beard Deer had neglected to close, laying still for a moment, her body shifting back to its Mewman form.

"Janna!" Jackie screamed in fear, seeing her roommate in pain, trying to reach out a hand to her, but prohibited from doing so by the bothersome net she was still trapped in.

Beard Deer just stood in shock for a moment, his frazzled mind having trouble processing what he had just done, in disbelief that he had actually managed to land a critical hit on the pesky Impure. But as he watched the girl struggling to rise to her feet, moving slowly and carefully, the girl coughing as she struggled to regain her breath after losing her precious air flow, the monster felt a dark sense of pleasure rush, as it seemed beneath all that bravado and strength, she was just a weak, little Mewman girl, one that he had completely at his mercy. Even if she could stand, which it seemed obvious she couldn't, the dimensional portal behind her prevented her from escaping him.

"What was that you were saying about me losing, Impure?" he hissed giving her a sinister grin, cracking his knuckles menacingly, preparing to give the annoying brat the pounding of her life.

But, much to the monster's and Jackie's surprise Janna started to chuckle, and Beard Deer felt a moment of confusion. Had she lost her mind? Or did she know something he didn't? "And what's so funny?!" the monster demanded, trying his best to hide his unwanted feelings of reluctance beneath his iron mask, refusing to let her get to him. It was clearly a last ditch effort to save herself and he wouldn't allow one of her little tricks to get the best of him again.

Finally, after a tense moment, Janna looked up at the monster, no signs of pain or fear on her face, just that same cryptic grin that she always had on, Beard Deer only glaring at her in response. "Man you're an idiot," the girl said, still chuckling at some weird inside joke the monster clearly wasn't aware of, her voice not sounding the least bit strained. She stood easily, forcing the startled monster to take a step back, as she began patting the dust off her clothes without a second thought toward the monster still standing in close distance of her. "I mean, seriously you just fell for the oldest trick in the book."

"And what's that supposed to mean?!" the monster yelled furiously, outraged as he realized the girl had been faking the whole thing, only pretending to be hurt, though for what purpose he had no idea.

Janna shrugged. "I just mean while you were busy gloating over the fact that you were actually beating the 'helpless Impure'," she explained sarcastically. "That left you too distracted to notice anything else."

The half-monster girl buried her hands into her pockets, giving him a look just dripping with arrogance. "Which left me plenty of time to swipe _these_."

And then, to add even more to the monster's surprise, the beanie-wearing girl pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors from her pocket... his scissors. "What?!" Beard Deer exclaimed, instinctively patting his pockets, frantically searching for the magical objects he hadn't even noticed he had lost. "How did you-"

"Easy I'm a professional pick pocket," Janna boasted, twirling the scissors expertly around in her hand. She stopped spinning them, pointing them at the infuriated monster, adding, "And you're a dumb monster."

The monster roared in anger, lunging at the girl once more, trying to grab the scissors out of her hand, shouting at the top of lungs, "Give me those back you little-"

But, before he could finish his insult, Janna just seemed to vanish from sight, turning into her bat form and flying straight up to avoid getting tackled, leaving the monster flying toward the opened portal, swirling menacingly as it waited to swallow him whole. Beard Deer stumbled, his arms waving wildly behind him, but somehow managed to stop himself just in time from passing through the tear in reality, one of his horns phased slightly through the rip in dimensions and he let out a loud sigh. But his relief was broken a second later, as Bat-Jan suddenly dropped out of the sky, shifting back to her monster form as she landed hard on the unsuspecting monster's back, before pushing herself off of him and doing a full flip in the air, landing gracefully on her feet. Meanwhile, the less than graceful Beard Deer was sent hurtling through the portal, his scream cut off as he vanished from view, the forest going surprisingly quiet, as Jackie and Janna were left alone once again.

With the threat now gone, Janna shifted back to her normal, less creepy look as she walked over to the portal and used the stolen scissors to close the tear to prevent the monster from reentering. "Well that takes care of that," the half-monster girl said, putting a hand on her hip, shooting her trapped friend a confident smirk.

"Yeah," Jackie agreed. "Now we just need to figure out way to get me out of this." The skater held up the entrapping rope to emphasis the dilemma she was still in, speaking to her friend in a reminding tone, raising a shifting eyebrow at her friend.

Janna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Uhh, why do you think I went out of my way to get the scissors?" She snipped them together for a moment, to demonstrate her point, before adding, "Pretty sure they function as actual scissors."

"Yeah, but Heckapoo would be pretty furious if she found out you were disrespecting a pair of her dimensional scissors by using them for this," Jackie argued, though she did hold out the rope so Janna could cut it better.

"Well if she didn't want them to get used wrongly, then she shouldn't have given them to a bunch of monsters," Janna pointed out, as she bent down and began cutting the net with the special scissors.

"Good point."

There was a short moment of silence between the two, as Janna simply snipped away at the thick knots of ropes that held Jackie hostage, the light-haired girl's strength diminishing as she struggled to hold the enchanted net up and the dark-haired girl too focused on her task to say much of anything.

"That was really dangerous y'know," Jackie finally said in a scolding tone, breaking the silence.

"I know," came Janna's immediate answer, as if she had been expecting her to say that (which she had), not even bothering to look up from her work. "Didn't see much of a choice."

"You could have been more careful. That looked like it really hurt," Jackie said, her tone sounding less scolding so much as concerned.

"Ahh, I can take it," Janna simply said. "Honestly, for all his talk, he didn't really pack that much of a punch."

Jackie sighed, before saying in an exasperated tone, "Just next time, maybe think a little, okay? I was really worried about you."

Janna looked up for a second, seeing the fear shimmering in her friend's eyes and felt her gut clench with guilt. "Sorry," she muttered quietly, Jackie almost not catching the whispered apology.

"That's okay," Jackie said, being careful with her tone, knowing how rare it was for her cryptic friend to admit to being wrong, quickly changing the subject as fast as possible. "So how much longer do you think this will take?" the skater asked, beginning to feel impatient.

As if reacting to Jackie's statement, the scissors finally cut all the way through the section of rope Janna had been working on, the mass of knots finally unraveling enough to create a very small opening, probably big enough for Jackie to stick her hand through, the two girls sharing a look with one another, Janna admitting calming, "A while," causing Jackie to sigh in annoyance.

…

Star and Marco panted as they continued on deeper into the danger-ridden forest, Star in the lead, keeping a firm grip on the boy as she squinted trying to see further ahead, the area around her feeling vaguely familiar. She was pretty sure she was heading the right way, but she needed to be careful, the forest no doubt crawling with monster on the hunt for her, meaning one wrong turn and it would all be over for the both of them. "Come on," she muttered quietly, trying to urge her feet to move faster, her impatience starting to get the better of her. "Where are you?"

While, behind her, Marco was doing everything he could to simply keep up with the fast-moving girl, his sore legs beginning to wear out from the incredibly long trek, while in his head his thoughts were still continuing to move a mile a minute with no sign of stopping, the still untold secret clinging tightly to his mind and refusing to leave until he confessed to the girl. He knew this probably wasn't the best time to bring up the uncomfortable subject, out there in the middle of the woods, being slowly hunted down by the monsters who had raised him, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out, desperately needing to get the troubling weight off of him. And with every step further into the unknown, his need only grew, still not sure how this would all turn out. So, if he was going to tell her, he reasoned, he had to do it now, while he still had the chance. He was reminded of Jackie and Janna's encouraging words from before, which managed to fill his heart full of momentary bravery, and he decided to use his newfound confidence, as he brought himself to a sudden and abrupt stop, panting heavily as he tried to regain enough of his air flow to talk.

Star was pulled back by the boy's sudden action, his still intertwined hand preventing her from moving anymore forward, causing her to stumble, and she turned to the boy with surprise, about to ask what was wrong. But she stopped, the royal feeling her heart swell with sympathy for the boy seeing his obvious exhaustion, Marco bent over, huffing and puffing, sweat slowly dripping down his scrunched up face as he tried to regain control of his throbbing lungs. She knew he had to be tired from the long run and for a moment she was tempted to let him rest, her eyes jumping back and forth between the waiting woods and the fatigued boy, trying not to think about how close they were to their destination. But she couldn't help it, with every moment that passed she could almost feel the monsters

closing in, a cold chill slowly beginning to creep up her spine, freezing her to the bone, as if the invisible claw of Toffee himself was reaching out toward her, just out of sight, and she knew in her paranoid state that they didn't have the luxury to wait and catch their breath, the little time they had slim, but precious.

"Marco, we really need to keep moving, we can't stop yet, it's just a little further I promise," Star said hurriedly, pulling on his arm to get him to move, her eyes on the path ahead of them, her feet desperate to continue forward.

"Star," Marco finally began, the crack in his voice finally managing to gain the girl's full attention, as he cleared his throat before continuing. "There's... something I need to tell you..."

Star, her sky blue eyes locked with his brown, saw the look of worry on the boy's face and asked in concern, "What is it Marco?"

The hooded boy hesitated, not sure where to begin, biting his lip as he tried to work up the nerve to tell the girl his secret, feeling shaky and unsure, terrified of her rejecting him. But he forced himself to bury his fears, squeezing the girl's hand tighter, his eyes shimmering with a thousand emotion, as he sucked in a breath before blurting, "I-"

"There zzhe izz!"

The two looked up in fright, only to spot Boo Fly hovering overhead, pointing out the two startled teens, the rest of the monsters right behind him, growling in anger at the stubborn royal. "That's her alright!" Bearicorn rumbled needlessly, his eyes narrowing on the princess, who put a protective hand in front of Marco, her other flashing her wand threateningly at the creatures, daring any of them to come closer, as she slowly began backing away from the large group of highly-trained killers with a hard look.

But it did nothing to ward the monsters off, as Three Eyed Potato Baby garbled something hastily, Lobster Claws relating his message to the other monsters, "Yeah, he's right, she's got Marco!"

Star, hearing the mention of the boy, instinctively shouted at the top her lungs, "Jellybean Mist Hallucination!" firing off the proper spell at the monster, as a jellybean filled mist coated the monsters, distracting them and giving her a few seconds of escape.

The determined blond grabbed Marco's arm, the boy looking over to her in daze, mesmerized by the magic display, as she shouted, "Run!" the two taking off together down the familiar path. After a few seconds, Star heard one of the monsters shout, "After her!" looking back for a second to see how far away they were. But she instantly regretted the split second decision, her heart leaping into her throat in terror at the sight of every single monster chasing after her, full speed, quickly gaining ground on her and Marco. So she focused her attention back on the path ahead, trying to pick up her pace a bit more in an attempt to get ahead of the monster's as much as possible, ignoring the tinges of fear that still clung to her, knowing the monster weren't that far behind. _Come on_ , she thought, her eyes scanning the undergrowth in front of her. _Where is it?_ It had to be around there somewhere, right? Unless she had accidentally taken the wrong path. She pushed aside the troubling thought, focusing instead on keeping ahead of the monsters.

Marco, on the other hand, didn't seem to be able to get his mind off the monsters as easily, his eyes jumping back to see his old family gaining ground on them, calling to Star in a concerned tone, "Starrr, they're getting closer."

But the girl was too distracted to hear the boy, as she spotted a bright flash in the treeline beside her and she felt her heart leap with excitement. _There_. Star gave the boy a gentle tug to draw his attention, before pointing out the desired direction to him, shouting, "That way!"

Marco didn't argue with the girl, instead nodding once in understanding, obeying her command as he suddenly switched directions, fighting his way through the lush undergrowth, the princess right behind him. Star heard several of the monsters shout in anger and confusion, thrown off by the unexpected action as the two disappeared from their view and she couldn't help but smile at how well things seemed to be going so far.

Marco finally escaped from the last of the entrapping vegetation, stumbling as he escaped from the claustrophobic area, freezing for a moment as he stared up at the gigantic, danger-ridden cave from before, looking as menacing as ever, the entrance still coated in Star's magic, glowing brightly in the low light of the forest, probably caused by its creator's presence. "Come on, Marco," Star panted, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder to draw his attention. "We need to-"

But the girl didn't have time to finish her sentence, as the monster busted out of the bushes behind them, immediately surrounding them to prevent escape. Marco clung close to his bestie, looking scared, as Star gave the monsters a hard look, holding tightly onto the boy's hand from behind her back. The monsters, however, all looked quite satisfied with their cornered prey, creeping slowly forward with sinister grins. "End of the line, princess," Bearicorn growled darkly.

"Star," Marco whispered, his voice a scared whimper.

"It'll be okay," Star said in a surprisingly reassuring tone, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, the hooded boy shocked by the confidence radiating in her voice. "Just stay close to me."

Star held her wand out, but to everyone's surprise, including Marco's, she aimed the magical device not at the monster's but instead at the cave's glowing barrier, yelling, "Anti-Shield Depletion!"

Before the monster's could stop her, a beam of magic shot out of her wand, colliding with the shield, before it faded from existence, exposing the raw darkness within. A loud chattering noise sounded from within the cave, echoing around the area, making several of the monster's back away in fear. Then, out of nowhere, the same familiar yarn vines shot out of the cave's mouth, spreading out in all directions, taking all of the startled monster's by surprise, Star wasted no time as she immediately slammed into Marco, throwing both of them to the ground, covering her head as best as she could as yarn webs shot harmlessly over their heads. The area turned into pure chaos, as the monster's were suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of webs shooting of the cave, screaming in panic as the thick webs wrapped around them, which only managed to draw more in their direction, pulling and tugging as they tried to free themselves from the fabric's iron grip. No monster was safe, several trying to flee the scene only to be thwarted by the tangle of vines latching onto them and preventing their escape. The yarn creature, becoming frustrated, began to lift the monster high into the air, where they dangled uselessly, their bodies slowly beginning to be encased in the scratchy fabric, the rest being dragged back to the cave's dark mouth.

After a few moments, Star risked a look up, and seeing no monster around turned her attention to the hooded boy, who had his eyes closed tight, feebly trying to cover his head with his hands and Star couldn't help but smile at how adorable he looked. The royal very carefully laid a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention, the boy jumping from the unexpected touch as he looked up at her, his wide, brown pupils locking with hers. She put a finger to her lips to let him know to stay quiet and he nodded. She moved off of him so he could sit up, before pointing to a break in the treeline ahead, then did a downwards gesture with her hands to let him know they needed to stay low to the ground, making sure he understood what needed to be done. Finally, Star took a deep breath, before crawling away on hands and knees, Marco following right behind her.

The two weaved their way through the continuing chaos, the monsters too distracted by their fight with the yarn creature to even notice the escaping teens, the going slow and agonizing for both of them. Until finally, they felt they had reached a far enough distance away without having to worry about being seen, as they stood and began racing away from the monsters and the cave without a second thought, hearing the yarn creature roar behind them.

Star let out a relieved laugh, unable to believe her crazy plan had actually worked. Sure there was still a likely chance the monsters would probably escape the yarn creature's lair, but by that point she (and especially Marco) would be long gone. She would just have to be sure to send more guards in to detain them as soon as she made it back to the castle and reseal that cave so the yarn creature couldn't do any more damage, but that was for later, right then, she felt an overwhelming joy surging through her, her triumphant victory over the evil monsters making her giddy. "We did it, Marco!" the girl screamed at the top of her lungs, shooting the boy a wide smile. "We won!"

Marco smiled affectionately at her saying, "I knew you could do it, Star. You were amazing!"

Star's eyes shined at the praise, her heart filling with joy and love for the boy, as she looked deep into his bright brown eyes. And as she raced forward without a care in the world, heart pumping full of adrenaline, Star felt content with the world once again, the danger at last behind her, her bestie beside her, and their freedom waiting just ahead. Without thinking, she reached out a hand toward him, needing to feel his touch and Marco did the same, everything between the two feeling okay at last.

But just before their hands could touch, Star was hit by an overwhelmingly strong force, knocking the air out of her lungs, leaving her powerless to stop herself from being thrown back, slamming hard into something, making her cry out in pain. The world vanished into a swirl of nauseating colors, as she heard, in her dizzying state, Marco scream her name, his voice sounding faded and far away. After a few agonizing seconds, Star was able to regain some of her senses, the fog in her brain lifting, as she slowly peeled open her eyes, ignoring the ringing in her ears, the world spinning out of control for a moment as she waited for the dizzy spell to pass. She tried to sit up, her body aching as she forced her muscles into action, grunting as she fought through the pain, using the tree she had slammed into as support. "Marco?" she coughed out, her voice strained and tight.

"My, my," Star felt her heart stop at the sound of the cold monotone, looking up to see Toffee only a few feet away, giving her an empty stare, but she felt shivers run down her spine as his dead eyes dug deep into her skin. But her fear worsened, as she spotted Marco laying submissively at the cruel monster's feet, frozen in fear, his whole body shuddering as he stared up at the lizard with wide eyes, the lizard's tale wrapped around his leg to keep him from running away. "It seems the little princess has fallen," he continued, in a mocking whine, as if he was talking to a child.

"Stay back," Star commanded, her voice shaking with fear, as she reached for her wand. That was until she remembered that it had been in her hand when she was hit, meaning it must have fallen when Toffee had thrown her back. She looked frantically around for any signs of the magical object, not bothering to mask her fear, as she scanned the forest floor around her.

Finally, she spotted it laying a few feet away from her, and Star started to make a dive for it, but felt her heart sink as she realized she couldn't move, her body refusing to budge even an inch more, the hit taking far more out of her than she had thought. Toffee seeing the princess' powerless state, gave a small wicked smile, before hiding it behind his emotionless mask once more. "There's no need to be so rude, princess. After all, you're hardly in the position to be making threats." Toffee's eyes jumped to Marco for a second, the boy shrinking under his intense gaze and Star felt her heart drop.

"If you lay so much as a finger on Marco, I swear I'll-"

"Now, now," Toffee interrupted, looking slightly agitated at the interruption and Star felt her skin crawl. "There's no need for that, I have no intention of harming Marco, _unless_ you continue to annoy me." His voice lost all its hollowness as the true killer showed itself, his voice a cruel hiss, causing Star to go silent and allow the monster to continue.

Toffee seemed to recover very quickly, seeing the girl becoming passive, as his business-like demeanor took over once more, straightening his tie before continuing. "That's better. Now then, as I was saying, you have proved to be more difficult than I expected you to be, princess. Somehow you managed to even best my monsters with a childish trick, but I think you will find that I am not so easily mislead." Star said nothing, matching his iron stare with the bravest look she could muster, trying her best to mask the fear and helplessness she was feeling as Toffee loomed over her, doing her best to keep her calm as she tried to think of some kind of plan to escape the dreaded monster, or at the very least get Marco away from him, the boy looking more and more panicked with every moment that passed, Star hating the look of terror on her sweet bestie's face.

"Now then, I believe it's time we finally get down to business," Toffee said, drawing the girl's attention to him once again, trying to ignore the pounding in her heart as the lizard's intense gaze locked with her frightened one. "It's time for you to come with me..." Star's hands clenched into fists, as she awaited her punishment. How could she have been so stupid, thinking she could beat the invincible monster, thinking she could somehow escape his wrath? She had grown cocky, somehow believing she was actually capable of doing anything other than screw up and in the end it had cost her everything.

She closed her eyes, hoping whatever grim fate Toffee no doubt had in store for her would be over quickly. But she doubted it. She was the Princess of Mewni, after all, and he was probably going to make her suffer for her people's crimes. She had failed, miserably, and now it was time for her to pay the price.

"...Marco." Star's eyes flew open in shock as she saw Toffee looming not over her, but her hoodie-wearing bestie, the boy trying to back away from the cruel monster, but was stopped by the tail still wrapped around his leg. Star felt her blood boil, feeling a new source of energy begin to fuel her tired body, needing to protect her helpless friend from the cold-blooded monster, trying to force her body to stand so she could rush to Marco's rescue, unable to just sit back and watch as Toffee exacted his revenge on her Marco. "Toffee!" she screamed, struggling to rise, her aching muscles refusing to listen to her commands. "You get away from him right now!"

"Now why would I do that, princess," Toffee said, an almost taunting tone to his voice. "After all, Marco belongs to me."

Star froze, feeling lost and confused at the lizard's words, her eyes widening as she stuttered out, "W-What?!"

"Oh," Toffee said in obvious mock shock, looking over to the boy quizzically. "You mean you never told her about the monster that raised you."

Star felt the world around her crack and break apart, as she struggled to find some sort of meaning in the madness that she was being told, her brain trying to deny the lizard's unexpected revelation. How could that be true? That _couldn't_ be true. There was no way. Marco was such a sweet, kind person, how could he have been raised by such a psychotic creature. It had to be a joke, or a lie. Yeah that was it, Toffee had to be lying, trying to manipulate her for some sinister purpose... right? She looked over to Marco, hoping that he would be able to somehow settle any uncertainty she was feeling, but the guilty look in his eyes silenced any doubts she had, his eyes shimmering with pain and hurt, as he refused to meet her eye.

"Marco?" Star whispered softly, the boy visibly flinching at her pleading tone, still looking away from her direction.

"That's right, princess," Toffee continued, clearly enjoying every second of this of the uncomfortable confrontation, soaking in the wounded look on the young royal's face. "It seems your little boyfriend wasn't who you thought he was. He's been lying to you all this time, keeping secrets to selfishly protect himself." He looked down at the still-shaking boy with an iron glare. "Isn't that right, Marco?"

After a moment, Marco slowly nodded his head, finally looking over at his bestie, his eyes full of regret as they connected with hers. "I-I'm so sorry, Star," he said, his voice filled with emotion. "I wanted to tell you so bad... I was just... afraid that-"

Marco was silenced, however, as Toffee suddenly, grabbed onto the boy's arm, onto the boy's arm, roughly pulling him to his feet, Toffee taking no care in the act as his claws dug deep into the boy's skin, causing the hooded boy to cry out in pain, his fragile limb aching from the unexpected tug.

"Marco!" Star cried in concern, trying to run over to his rescue, but all she did was lose her balance without the support of the tree, collapsing hard onto the forest floor, pain shooting through her body from the reckless act, the breath temporarily knocked out of her lungs.

"That's quite enough of that," Toffee scolded, Marco trying to pry his way out of the lizard's iron grip. "Don't pretend to justify your sins. You've been very bad, Marco. You've caused quite a bit of trouble for your friend, haven't you?" Marco said nothing as he stopped struggling, but the shameful look in his eyes told Toffee all he needed to know. "But not to worry, I'm giving you a chance to make it right, that is _if_ you come back with me without a fight."

Marco's eyes widened, surprised by the cruel lizard's offer, looking over to his friend for a second, his stomach turning at the sight of her bruised body laying helplessly on the floor, her whole face scrunched up with pain, the guilt he was feeling almost unbearable. This was all his fault. He knew it was. If he hadn't come in the first place, then none of this would have ever happened. It was because of him that Star was hurt, all his lies and deceit endangering her in ways he couldn't have imagined. But if he gave in and obeyed Toffee's wishes then maybe he could make everything right again, maybe he could make it up to Star and the others, his gut twisting again as he remembered his other two friends who were busy fighting off Beard Deer, yet more people he had endangered just by being near them.

So, though he hated doing it, he forced himself to match Toffee's gaze as he said in the strongest voice he could manage, "If I go back with you, Master Toffee, then you have to promise me that you'll let Star go and call the rest of the monsters off."

Toffee said nothing, his face unreadable, and though Marco felt an uncomfortable tension beginning to grow he kept a level gaze with the monster leader, nervously awaiting his crucial answer. Meanwhile, Star was forced to simply watch as her best friend stared down the most feared monster in all of Mewni, still struggling to regain enough air flow to talk, her voice no more than a breathless squeak, overwhelmed as the alarming situation continued to spiral out of control. She kept gazing longingly over to her discarded wand. If only she could reach it somehow, then she could actually damage the horrible lizard and save her friend. _Please_ , she silently pleaded with the magical object, remembering it's strange behavior before, begging it to act on its own. _Do something, anything, before it's too late._

Finally, after what felt to both Star and Marco like a lifetime, Toffee gave his answer, their hearts stopping simultaneously. "Very well, then, Marco. If that's what it takes. I promise you, no harm will come to the girl."

Marco feeling a mixture of relief and regret, dropped his gaze to the floor, taking in a deep, shaky breath, before hesitantly answering, "Then I'll go with you."

"No!" Star squeaked, finding her voice once again, as she felt a deep dread overtake her.

"Good boy," Toffee praised, though his voice sounded far less than enthusiastic, patting the boy softly on the head, Marco holding back the shudder he felt rising inside of him. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Marco said nothing as Toffee pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors, cutting open a glowing portal, before standing by, awaiting the hooded boy to enter. "After you. The others will be joining with us shortly," Toffee said, all formalities again. Marco tried to will his feet into motion, his heart beginning to pound in fear, wanting nothing more than to turn back, to escape from the dreaded monster and stay with Star. _This is for the best_ , he reminded himself,trying to coax his heart rate down, his hands clenching into tight fists. _I'm doing this for Star. She's better off without me_. Finally, he took a step forward.

"No!" Star screamed, her voice a broken whimper, drawing the boy's attention, as she tried to crawl her way over to him, desperate to stop him from going with the awful lizard, she had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't going to just let him walk away like that. "Marco! Stop! Please, don't go with him!"

But Marco merely gave her a sad smile, saying softly, "Goodbye Star. And I'm sorry again, for not telling you the truth. For what it's worth, I had a lot of fun while it lasted." He took a shaky breath, as if fighting back tears before adding, "I'll never forget you."

With that, Marco turned away, disappearing into the glowing vortex, lost from Star's sight, the heartbroken royal feeling hot tears sliding down her cheeks, as she stared at the portal in sorrow, unable to believe the boy was really gone. Toffee, smiled seeing the hated princess breaking down into tears in front of him, the look on her face far sweeter than anything else he could have done to her. "Just so you know," Toffee said, the girl staring at him with a lost look. "If you ever get in my way again or try any sort of foolish attempt to rescue the boy, there will be _severe_ consequences."

Star's hurt-filled face, turned to one of anger, glaring menacingly at the monster, who merely gave her a blank, empty stare, but she could see the killer instincts in his eyes, as he said in a swift monotone, dropping into a final, mock bow, "It was a pleasure to meet you at last, Princess Star."

Then, the lizard turned and left through the portal as well, leaving Star alone to grieve and think, barely even hearing the dimensional tear closing as she wept. She couldn't believe he was really gone. Just like that. And all she had done was watch, helplessly, as the most important person in her life had traded himself to the most feared creature in the dimensions just to save her. She was pathetic, how could she have let him down like that? How could she have done nothing? And now he was gone, taken away from her, all because of her uselessness.

"Star!" a familiar voice screamed, breaking into her sorrow-filled thoughts, as she looked up with bleary vision to see Jackie and Janna running over to her.

"Jackie! Janna!" Star squeaked in surprise, her throat tight from crying.

"Star, what happened?!" Jackie asked in concern, seeing her friend's tear-streaked face, helping the blond to her feet, before having to catch her and hold her up, as her legs tried to give out on her. "Are you okay?"

Janna, picked up Star's wand, looking around for any signs of bright red in the dark forest around them. "And where's Marco?" the beanie-wearing asked, handing the magical device over to the blond royal, who took it eagerly, already feeling the magical energy flowing through her sore body.

"Toffee took him!" Star panted, breathlessly, her eyes full of fear.

"What?!" Jackie and Janna cried as one, both with equal looks of horror.

"How?!" Janna managed to add, her cryptic attitude gone as concern for the boy overpowered her casual demeanor.

"I don't know!" Star cried, sniffing, as she wiped the tears from her face in frustration. "It all happened so fast! He-He gave himself up to protect me! Apparently, Marco- he was- was-"

"Raised by monsters?" Janna finished for her, Star looking at the girl in shock.

"You knew?" she looked between the two, before gasping, taking in the guilty look on both of her friend's faces. "You both knew?!"

"Yeah," Jackie sheepishly responded. "Marco told us."

"When?" Star asked, unable to believe he had told them such a mind-shattering secret before her and that they had kept it from her for so long.

"Just earlier tonight," Janna promised, raising her hands in surrender, seeing the hurt on her royal friend's face. "After your kiss."

"What?!" Star screamed, now even more upset.

"Yeah, some of the monster's tried to kidnap him then, too, after you left," Janna continued.

"WHAT?!"

"He wanted to tell you," Jackie took over, before Janna could make the situation any worse. "But he was afraid of how you would react."

"Yeah, he said something about that," Star muttered miserably, hanging her head in defeat. "I just, I can't believe he's really gone."

Jackie, pulled the troubled girl into a hug, as she said in the most soothing voice she could, "I know. But we'll get him back, I promise."

Star said nothing, feeling almost numb as she looked for clarity amidst the shocking new revelations and bombshells that had just been thrown on her on that awful night, even Jackie's comforting embrace doing little to untwist the tight knots in her stomach as she thought of her missing Marco. Suddenly, everything made sense, every moment she had spent with the boy finally adding up in a new startling way, as memories flooded through Star's frazzled brain, words popping into her mind, one after the other, making her whole head spin. _Why would the monsters steal food... No, I don't really have a home at the moment... She's got Marco... This scar it means I did something wrong... These claw marks could only be the work of Toffee... What happened to you was awful and hard to forget, believe me I get it... Besides, you're not the only one they want. They're here for me, too. They're here... because of me._ It seemed like there had been so many signs now, so many clues to the truth and Star couldn't believe she hadn't seen it sooner. It seemed Star had been so busy trying to protect Marco from the truth, that she had ignored the the answers that had been right in front of her, which ironically only led to her inevitable failure to fulfill her self-made promise to take care of him.

Finally, one last memory returned to her mind, that tear-filled night, when Star had poured out her soul to the boy, telling him all the suffering she had gone through, instantly recalling the image of the boy's face and that look of true understanding she had seen in his eyes. At the time, she had mistaken its meaning, assuming it was his traumatic encounter with the feared monster's, but now with the truth finally exposed she finally understood what he had been so upset over. The suffering he truly endured and she knew what had to be done. Her hands clenched into tight fists, feeling a fire beginning to burn within her chest, her wand fueling her with energy once more.

She pulled out of Jackie's grasp, the skater girl temporarily thrown off-guard by the unstoppable determination she saw on the girl, strength and resolve seeming to flow off of the young royal, as she said hastily, "Then we need to get to him, right now, before it's too late. I've seen what Toffee's done to Marco in the past and I refuse to just stand by and let it happen again. I can't. Not to Marco." She was quiet for a second, Jackie seeing the love shining in the girl's teary eyes. "I don't know how, Jacks. But we have to reach him, somehow."

"Maybe there is a way," Jackie said thoughtfully, her voice getting louder and faster with every word. "Jackie stole a pair of dimensional scissors from one of the monsters, we can use those to get to Marco."

Star felt her heart leap at the news, grabbing on tightly to her friend's hand. "That's perfect!" Star cried, a smile finally gracing her lips. "Okay, then let's get going right now. You guys can tell me everything on the way-"

"Um," Janna suddenly interrupted, raising a knowing finger in the air. "I hate to burst you two's whole 'rescue mission bubble'." The dark-haired girl doing air quotes before continuing. "Buttt, there is just one tiny detail you two seemed to have forgotten." The two gave her a confused look and she sighed. "Those scissors are useless unless we know where Marco is? And last time I checked none of us, not to mention the rest of Mewni, knows where Toffee's base of operation's is even at."

"I do." the three girl's all turned on the heels, as they stared wide-eyed at the monster who had just stepped out of the shadow's behind them, his large, muscular frog-like body, looking quite intimidating to the three teens. "And I show you way."

"Who are you?" Star asked suspiciously, raising her wand, skeptical of the new monster, the amphibian seeming to have just appeared out of nowhere, Jackie and Janna tensing up as well.

"My name is Yvgeny Bulgolyubov," the monster answered. "You may call me Buff Frog. And I am here to save my son."

 **And that's the end of that one! This one turned out great, especially that ending! Marco's gone and the girls are scheming to get him back, with the help of Buff Frog, of course. Be honest, I surprised all of you with that one, didn't I? Up next is the beginning of the first arc finale, "** _ **The Rescue"**_ **. Sounds like there is gonna be a little "castle storming" in the near future *wink, wink*! So as always, please favorite, follow, and review and I will see you next time! Love you all, bye!**

 **Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes I did see the season finale of Star and I was blown away with how epic it was! Though gotta say my favorite episode this season is probably a toss up of "Deep Dive" and "Booth Buddies". If you want, let me know which one was your favorite in the comments. Don't feel like you have to, I'm just curious.**

 **And now on to the comments!**

 **The Intelligent Otaku 556- Thanks! I did really like how the chapter turned out. And if it's Star vs Toffee you want then this chapter will not disappoint. Enjoy!**

 **Gamelover41592- Haha couldn't have said it better myself!**

 **OmegaDelta- Yep, yep, Marco is definitely on his way (he would never leave his Star behind), and yes, all those things happening would be great! Butttt you'll just have to read and see how it all turns out, cause I ain't spoiling nothing. Nothing! Hehe, sorry, I'm just kidding. Thanks, I will!**

 **Sugar- Thank you, I'm glad you feel the same way! Don't get me wrong, I don't hate on people who ship those two, because people are free to ship what they want, I just really feel friendship would have been the better way to go for Kelly and Marco. As for the actual chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yeah I took care with the confession scene because I wanted it to feel real and genuine, but did my best to make it feel like something you would see from the actual show, so thanks for the compliment! I do try my best to keep it clean, like no bad words and little blood, because honestly it just really isn't my style. Though now that you mention it, I guess my style is more "Disney-ish", compared to some, haha.**

 **Meatpuppettt- Welp, wait no more, because here it is and it's longer than ever before! Hope you like it!**

 **Guest- Thanks, glad you're enjoying!**

 **allen Vth- Haha, yeah, Mewni isn't the most top-notched secured place to live, that's for sure! Once this is all over, though, I think her first order of business will be to freaking move the generator! Though there is a reason for it being out there, in case you were wondering. Basically, all the towers had to be set up all around the perimeter of the city for it to work effectively which basically meant, there had to be at least one in the Forest of Certain Death for it to work right. As for the guards, yeah there is no explanation for that one, there all just kinda useless.**

 **I totally agree with you on Janna, she's probably my second favorite character after Marco, because he is my pride and joy. I really enjoy how she can be laid back while still doing what she can to get what she wants, which in this case is getting Star and Marco together and winning the bet. But in most cases, it's almost like Janna is secretly controlling the story, running everything from the background, just out of sight *cue mysterious musical score* And yeah, Janna's monster form does give her a bit of an advantage over the others, but keep in mind Toffee does know about her as well, hmmm?**

 **Finally, to answer your question, the reason you feel that way is because I'm very obvious and bad at hiding stuff. Haha, hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Monkey lover 911- Aww, thanks that's so sweet of you to say and I'm so glad you're enjoying! Don't worry the answer's will be reveled in this chapter!**

 **Weeboforlife- Hey there, it's so nice to meet another friend of Sjmt! I'll be honest when you mentioned your friend said it was one of the best stories she read I immediately thought, "That sounds like Sjmt." And as it turns out I was right! Thank you for telling me, I don't like to pry or anything, but I was a little concerned when they went so long without reviewing anymore, because they do feel like online family to me too, but I understand if life's been busy or hard for them and they couldn't get to it, so I never really expected a comment or anything, it's just good to know their okay and still enjoy the story.**

 **Speaking of which, I'm so glad to hear that you're loving it so much! I put a lot of time and effort into making it the best I can from plot to characters to, of course, fluff (because fluff is the best!), so I'm glad I could make a fellow fangirl, well, fangirl as hard as me! Ha, still got it! Also, I liked the title a lot too, I actually went through several names before deciding on this one and now I can't picture it any different! Welp, bye bye, new friend and since you are friend's with the others I will leave you with the traditional hugs. *Hugs!***

 **S.t.a.r.c. .131313- *sheepishly laughs* Ha ha, sorry! My bad! My laptop died and I had to wait on the replacement but I still hate missing my deadlines! :(**

 **Guest- No, no I'm doing just fine, sorry for concerning you. Thanks though, I do appreciate you taking the time to check, it means a lot to know you care, I know I went too long without an update, but it was kinda out of my control otherwise it wouldn't have happened.**

 **And also Guest (I'm doing these in order in case you were wondering)- Ha ha, thanks for that, I laughed a long time after reading you're comment, and I do really appreciate the concern, it means a lot. But don't worry I'm not done with this story anytime soon...**

 **Next Update: 2 weeks**


	17. The Rescue

Chapter 16: The Rescue

 **Hi, Stardom! ThDorkMagnet is back! Thank you all so much for all the favorites, follows, and reviews and for always making writing for you guys a pleasure! But before we get started on the chapter I do feel I need to address something. I noticed in the last one a few of you mentioned in the comments that Marco seemed helpless and didn't really fight back that much. So first off I want to thank all of you for enjoying my story enough to take the time to give me constructive criticism! And I really mean that. I do appreciate it. I'm not a perfect writer, so I always appreciate anything that can help me learn or grow as a writer, whether that be positive encouragement or constructive criticism. And I am keeping all of that in mind as the story goes on.**

 **Okay, now then, without further ado, here is the next chapter for you! Hope you enjoy it! Love you, guys!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The mood in Toffee's castle was a foal one, as the intense, trying night turned into a bittersweet morning, the monsters slowly regrouping back at their base to lick their wounds and try to recover from the surprisingly difficult mission, having _finally_ managed to beat back that stupid yarn creature the princess had sicked on them long enough to escape its felt-filled wrath. None of them had expected things to turn out so horribly, with Toffee leading them capturing Marco should have been a breeze, even with the Princess of Mewni guarding him. Instead everything had gone awry, Marco slipping through their carefully calculated trap and the princess managing to catch all of them off guard and escape her inevitable capture not once, but _twice,_ not to mention whatever had happened to Beard Deer, the monster fuming unhappily in the corner since they arrived, refusing to answer any of their questions, simply stating in between clenched teeth, "I don't wanna talk about it".

Needless to say, the monsters were extremely concerned about how their master was going to react to their failure, knowing there was no way they would go unpunished. Sure, they were relieved to know that Marco had been eventually recovered, Toffee locking him in his room to rest for the time being until they could reverse whatever spell had been placed on him, but it had been the lizard leader himself who had performed the retrieval, the monsters of no help in the matter whatsoever, leaving them all full of regret for not being more useful to their master... or to poor Marco, which left them feeling even more miserable for not being able to protect him when he needed them most.

They all wanted to go and talk to the boy, none of them able to forget how frightened he had seemed back in the forest, but no one dared to disobey Toffee out of risk of angering him further, all of them under strict instructions to stay away from the boy. Still, that didn't stop any of the monsters from worrying as they all returned to their normal tasks, doing their best to pretend the previous nights events had never even happened.

But there was one monster who seemed unaffected from the negative atmosphere that seemed to consume his castle that melancholy morning, Toffee walking silently down the hallways with a blank stare, carrying a tray of food, his steps confident and full of purpose. Lobster Claws, who had been asked to guard Marco's door, heard the echoing footsteps of someone approaching and stood immediately at attention, prepared to shoo away whoever was coming down that way. But upon recognizing his leader, he quickly dropped his guard, saluting Toffee with a shaky claw.

"Master Toffee, good morning," Lobster Claws greeted politely, trying to keep the jitteriness out of his voice.

"Lobster Claws," Toffee replied, giving the tiniest of nods, before turning to the locked door, barely even acknowledging the crustacean's presence. "Have you heard anything from him yet?"

"Nope," Lobster Claws answered, shaking his head. "Not a sound." The monster's face seemed to sadden as his gaze drifted to the door, adding, "In fact, I've been kinda worried. It's not really like Marco to go so long without saying anything."

"Yes well, it has been a rough night for him," Toffee said, sounding slightly impatient. "And I'm certain he's probably exhausted from everything that's happened the last couple of weeks." Toffee finally turned to his fellow monster, giving him what could almost pass for a friendly smile. "Let me have a talk with him, see what I can do to help improve his attitude."

Lobster Claws nodded instantly, obeying his master as he stepped aside with another salute, saying in a respectful tone, "Of course, Master Toffee."

Toffee wasted no time as he removed the key from his suit pocket, unlocked the door, and preceded to slip the small object back into his pocket and out of sight before entering the dark room. It didn't take the lizard long to spot Marco, the boy sitting quietly on the floor, facing away from the monster, his legs tucked up to his chest, his hood drawn up over his head, hiding his face from view. Marco made no recognition that the monster had entered, despite the fact that the door had opened with a loud creak, giving the monster's presence away, though Toffee did notice the boy's body stiffen a little from the sudden noise, as if bracing himself for a sudden attack from the monster. For a few tense seconds Toffee just watched the Mewman for any form of movement, before finally greeting him in what was almost a pleasant tone, "Hello, Marco."

But the boy said nothing, still quite persistent it seemed on ignoring the monster, burying his head even farther from the lizard's sight. But the lizard disregarded the boy's cold demeanor as he continued to address his captive, "I trust you slept well last night?"

"Go away," Marco muttered, Toffee smiling as he finally managed to get a reaction out of him.

"Come now, Marco, there's no need to be so hostile," Toffee said, coming closer to the boy, reaching down and pulling off his hood. "After all, I did go out of my way to pay you a visit this morning."

Marco immediately pulled his hood back up, before shuffling a little ways away from the monster. "What do you want?" he asked bitterly, still refusing to even look in his direction, his eyes on the floor instead.

"I figured you must be hungry," Toffee explained, setting the tray of food down on the boy's dresser. "So I brought you something to eat."

"Why would you even care?" Marco immediately replied, suspicion in his tone, causing Toffee to freeze up for a second, caught off-guard by the unexpected accusation.

But he recovered quickly, turning to the boy with a trusting smile even though the boy still wasn't looking in his direction. "Do I have to have an excuse to do something nice for my son?"

"I'm not your son!" Marco screamed, finally turning in the lizard's direction, his eyes red and swollen from crying, and his body still shuddering slightly with fear, but he gave the lizard a hard glare, gritting his teeth at the monster who had ruined his life. "A-And if you're going to keep me in here th-then I want to speak to my real dad," he said, his voice a nervous stutter, as he struggled to keep his calm facing down the terrifying lizard.

Toffee gave the hooded boy an expressionless look, Marco feeling his courage beginning to wear thin under the monster's focused gaze, but he forced himself to keep his eyes level, as he stared into the black pits of Master Toffee's pupils, until the monster spoke once more. "I'm sorry to say that Buff Frog is no longer with us," Toffee said, his voice lacking any empathy whatsoever.

"W-Where is he then?" Marco asked hesitantly, not sure he wanted to know what Toffee meant by that. But Toffee just continued to stare at him, giving him a knowing look, before saying in a meaningful way, "I think you know the answer to that, Marco."

Marco felt his heart stop, tears instantly filling his eyes. "You mean he's..." the boy started but found it too painful to finish the sentence, the look in Toffee's eyes already confirming that what he was saying was true. "No," the boy muttered, his eyes dropping to the floor, feeling all his emotions drain out of him, until only sadness remained. "No, he... he can't be..." Marco didn't finish his sentence, his thoughts filling in the rest for him, as he felt a deep aching clench his chest, squeezing his insides, making it hard to breathe, barely able to gain enough strength to wipe the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. Buff Frog was gone? But why? How? This couldn't be real, the whole thing feeling like some horrible nightmare. On top of everything he had lost so far: his friends, his home, _Star,_ how... how could he have returned to a world without his father, too?

"I'm afraid it's true," Toffee replied, his claws behind his back, his voice a cold monotone.

Finally, Marco looked up and Toffee was surprised to see distrust on the boy's features, his eyes narrowing in suspicion and grief, the look almost reminding him of Buff Frog. "What did you do?"

Toffee seemed to be visibly unsettled at that, replying in a hard tone, "What had to be done. He betrayed me and he payed the price for his treachery."

"Is that why I'm here?" Marco asked, his tone harder than Toffee was used to hearing from the weak Mewman. "To-to punish me for betraying you."

Toffee said nothing for a moment and Marco felt panic threatening to betray his resolve. Finally, Toffee reached out a claw toward the boy, his green ring flashing a sickly glow as he did so, causing Marco to flinch and break off his stare, terrified of what horrific thing the monster was about to do to him. But there was no affliction for his actions, instead Toffee merely placed a claw on top of his head, causing the boy to freeze staring up at the monster wide-eyed, baffled by the strange reaction, feeling a slight burning sensation through his hood.

"Not at all," Toffee said softly. "As a matter of fact, I'm willing to forgive you completely for your past misdeeds and in exchange you're going to be a good little boy and forget all about that other place you so regretfully left behind." Toffee leaned down closer till he was at eye level with the boy. "Do we have an understanding?"

Marco hesitated before answering, Toffee's intense stare making him anxious but he swallowed back his fear, as he stepped away from the lizard, pulling out of his grasp, the burning immediately ceasing as he did. "Why? So that I can pretend that everythings okay? That you and the monsters aren't killing Mewmans?" Marco asked coldly.

Toffee rose back up to a standing position, looking up at the ceiling while his hand played with the ring on his finger, as he let out a deep sigh, leaving Marco unsteady and unsure what to do or say next, trying to fight back the urge to move farther away from the lizard, wanting to stand his ground against the fierce monster. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds Marco opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped as Toffee's claw connected with his face, a loud _slap_ echoing through the quiet room, Marco falling hard onto his knees with a pained grunt, barely managing to catch himself at the last moment. Marco reached up a hand, tenderly touching his throbbing cheek, as pain shot through his face. He looked up at the monster, only to recoil at the sight of the monster's evil gaze resting on him, the true monster surfacing from underneath his normally calm facade. "So you still wish to defy me?" Toffee hissed, Marco taken aback at how viscous the lizard's tone had become.

But he fought back his fears, forcing himself to stand despite the overwhelming pain that was coursing though his body, giving the sinister monster the most defiant look he could. "Yes," Marco said simply.

Toffee reacted immediately, as he sent a clenched fist right into the boy's stomach, pain surging through Marco's insides, unable to keep himself standing as he collapsed once more to his knees, his whole body shaking from the intense pain he was feeling, only this time, Toffee took it a step further, as he kicked the boy hard in the side, causing Marco to crash into the side of his bed his hood flying back from the unexpected action, coughing for a few seconds as his body throbbed with agony. But Marco wasn't down for long as he forced himself to stand, using his bed as balance to make the effort easier. "Go ahead," Marco said with a strained tone, once he was standing on wobbly feet. "Keep knocking me down, but it won't change my mind. I'm tired of being afraid of you and I'm not obeying you anymore."

Toffee simply watched the boy with a blank stare, but in reality he was quite irritated, unable to believe the cowering, whimpering child had somehow grown a backbone while he was away, small as it was, annoyed at the realization that this was going to be a bit more difficult than he had initially anticipated.

"Why do you always have to be such a nuisance?" Toffee observed, his voice still intense, as he glared menacingly at the boy, who remaining silent as he swallowed back the nagging fear that felt like it was consuming his insides, his stomach churning with discomfort. "Despite my best efforts, you always manage to make things more difficult than they have to be. Why can't you just behave and do as your told for once?" Toffee continued, his scolding tone making Marco feel the familiar pangs of guilt cling to him once more, looking away from the monster, the boy's negative emotions blending together into a sickening combination.

"You should be grateful you are of some use to me, otherwise I would have disposed of you years ago..." Toffee admitted, the boy tensing up at the indicated threat. "Just like I did your miserable parents."

Marco let out a gasp, feeling his heart stop beating as every function in his body seemed to simultaneously come to a screeching halt. The boy whipped his head around to stare at Toffee, the lizard falling back into his monotone expression, only now Marco could see the enjoyment and torment sparking in the blackened pits staring back at him, obviously basking in the hurt he was causing poor Marco, and the boy felt the world around him shift and distort. _No_ , Marco thought, as his breathing became hollow and ragged, a new more powerful emotion beginning to rise inside him, one that rivaled all the others, the unbearable pain unlike anything Marco had ever felt before. All the while his head ached with the lizard's unwanted words, the combination of the two making Marco feel like he was being crushed under the weight of all his worries.

"W-What?" Marco finally managed to squeak out, in between gasps for breath. "No. T-That can't be true," Marco added, his hands feebly clawing at his hair, shaking his head as he tried to refuse to accept the lizard's horrible reality. "Buff Frog told me... m-my parents died in a fire."

"Oh, Marco," Toffee said, clicking his tongue in disappointment, the look in his eyes quite alarming to the hooded boy, as his face broke out into a wicked grin. "Who do you think was the one who started the fire in the first place?"

Marco collapsed to his knees, lacking the strength to continue standing, barely even aware of the change, as he just stared forward with a hollow look. "You," he muttered, his voice a broken whimper. "You killed them?" It was a statement more than a question, the Mewman having to swallow down the lump that was forming in his throat, tears beginning to fill his vision.

"Why?! How could you? W-What did they ever do to you to deserve to die?!" Marco screamed, gritting his teeth at the lizard, anger overpowering his senses, his voice a tortured sob.

"What did they do?" Toffee repeated to himself, scoffing as if the answer should be obvious. "They existed."

Marco's eyes narrowed as the monster leader chuckled slightly, clearly trying to provoke the already devastated boy, as he casually walked over to the tray of food he had brought for the boy. "I honestly had no choice in the matter. They were a threat to my power, always talking about peace and understanding between monsters and Mewmans." Toffee's tone became much harsher as he picked up a juicy red apple from the dish. "And it seemed every foolish monster was buying into their lies and nativity, some of them actually trusting their word over mine, can you even believe that?" He looked over at the glaring Marco, who remained silent. "So I decided that the best course of action was to..." Toffee squeezed the apple tightly, crushing it in his hand, causing the boy to flinch, before dropping the remains on the floor, his eyes never once leaving Marco's shocked face. "...eliminate the problem."

Marco panted, lowering his head, letting his tears drip to the floor, soaking in the painful truth as his hands clenching into tight fists. _Mom... Dad... Star... and now Buff Frog, too. I've lost everyone._

"Little did I know," Toffee continued, ignoring the boy's saddened behavior, as he slithered closer. "That they had recently given birth to a son." Marco gasped at that, his head slowly raising to look up at the monster that now towered over him. "Yes, that's right, Marco," Toffee said softly, relishing in the hurt on the boy's face. "Somehow they had managed to keep you a secret from me and even more miraculously they were able to slip you out from right under my nose thanks to that worthless Buff Frog." His eyes filled with a dark hatred for a second, before the lizard hid it behind his iron mask. He bent down, putting a clawed nail just under Marco's chin, forcing him to match his gaze. "How ironic that in the end their precious child now belongs to me and is being used to crush the very peace they died protecting."

"What do you mean?" Marco gasped out, his eyebrows pinching together in confusion. "How am... I..."

"Simple, my dear boy, you're the key to getting the monster to obey me," Toffee cooed, his voice dripping with false sugar, which made the boy's skin crawl. "Their admiration for you has made it so much easier to control them over the years and it seems their bond with you has only grown stronger with time, though I couldn't tell you in the slightest why that would be. How they could ever care for such a worthless little brat like you is beyond me."

For a few tense seconds there was just unbearable silence, Toffee inches from the boy's face, his nail placed delicately at the boy's throat digging in ever so slightly to his soft skin, clearly showing off his obvious superiority over his puppet, while Marco was doing everything in his power to keep his gaze level with the cruel monster in front of him, resisting every safety instinct that was telling him to back away, sweat dripping down his face and his heart pounding so hard he was certain the lizard could hear it. Finally, Toffee stood once again removing his claw from the boy's throat, as he did Marco finally released the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding in. The boy kept his eyes on the lizard as he felt his neck for any damage, pulling away a few drops of blood from the small puncture Toffee's nail had left.

"Still, I suppose it doesn't make a difference," Toffee continued, shrugging off the last terrifying couple of seconds like they had been nothing. "As long as they stay loyal to me then I have no reason to dispose of you... yet."

Marco said nothing, bowing his head, his face now hidden from the monster's view, but Toffee was quite satisfied by the submissive act, seeing his plan had worked, he had actually managed to crush the boy's rebellious spirit and forced him to revert back to the terrified little Mewman Toffee so enjoyed seeing cowering in front of him. _Well, that went even easier than I expected_ , Toffee thought. _I assumed he would put up at least a bit more of a fight than that. Pathetic._

So, confident that the boy had finally given in to him, Toffee turned and headed for the door, saying over his shoulder, "So then I'll leave you to think some things over and when I return I trust you will be a bit more cooperative."

"No." Marco's voice spoke up, sounding grim, stopping the monster in his tracks.

Slowly, Toffee turned to face the boy, his murderous eyes narrowing on his form, as he asked in a dire tone, "What?"

Marco raised his head, his eyes connecting with Toffee's and the lizard was shocked to see not passive obedience on the boy's tear-streaked face, but rather a raw, unyielding determination, as he openly glared at the monster with no fear or hesitation. "I said no," Marco repeated, his steady tone infuriating to Toffee, who was getting bizarre flashbacks to his encounters with Buff Frog, the boy's demeanor once again mimicking his frog father's perfectly."I'm not going to let you get away with this."

"Really, and how exactly do you intend to stop me?" Toffee asked with a smirk.

"I'll tell the others, I'll tell them everything you told me."

Toffee chuckled at that, crossing his arms. "And why exactly would that make a difference? Aren't you forgetting? They believe you're under the Mewman's control. They won't believe anything you have to say. It will just be my word against yours."

"Well, then..." Marco said hesitantly, clearly trying to think of a comeback. "I'll... I'll..."

"You'll what?" Toffee taunted, urging him to finish his sentence, but the boy remained silent. "Face it, Marco, without help you're useless... there's nothing you can do to stop me, not on your own."

With that, Toffee turned away once again, walking to the door and unlocking it with the key in his pocket. But before he opened it he turned back to Marco who looked quite troubled, standing there in the middle of his room. "You should just give up the hero act and reconsider my offer, we both know it doesn't suit you. Your purpose has been and always will be playing the part of my puppet, so why fight it? In the end, you know I always get what I want."

Marco's and Toffee's eyes locked for a second, and Toffee finally saw what was filling the boy with so much bravery... or rather who. "And there's no one who can save you from what I have planned." Marco felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as Toffee gave him one final, departing glare, before slithering out of the room and locking him back in, leaving the boy alone once again.

But Toffee could hear the boy's muffled shouts echoing from the other side of the door, the boy still trying to stay resilient to the lizard's threats, as he screamed, "I'm not giving up! I'll find a way to beat you! I'll keep resisting you for as long as it takes! I won't let you win!"

Lobster Claws looked quite shaken by the boy's yelling, staring at the door with a grimace. "What's going on in there?"

Toffee, on the other hand, was unaffected by the racquet the boy was making, telling the monster guard, "I did what I could, but as you can hear, the spell has a stronger hold on him than I initially thought, it'll take some time before he will recover enough to break free from its grasp."

"Shouldn't we do something?" Lobster Claws asked with concern, but Toffee shook his head.

"No, Marco's mind is in a very fragile place right now and I'm afraid anything we try will only make things worse for him in the long run. It is crucial that you don't let anyone near the boy until he is _fully_ recovered, understood?"

Lobster Claws saluted his leader saying firmly, "Yes sir, understood!" He then returned to his diligent task of guarding Marco's door, the lizard walking down the hallway with a confident smile. The talk had actually gone quite well, in his opinion, though it seemed the teenager had entered his rebellious phase. Still, it was nothing a few more "visits" couldn't fix, Toffee sure that after a couple more weeks of disciplining the boy would be begging to join his cause. After all, though the boy may have acted courageously, it was obviously nothing more than false bravado, most likely brought on by overexposure from the plucky princess. Toffee wasn't worried, Marco was more than manageable, he just needed to remind him of how fearful he could truly be.

His bigger concern was keeping the monster in the dark about all of this. Though he had laughed it off as a joke, it genuinely concerned him that Marco was threatening to expose him for the fraud he was. Though his fear was rooted deep into his minions he knew how much the monsters tended to favor a Diaz's word. There was no doubt that he could talk the fools over to his side if given the chance. But as long as he kept him away from the monsters until this little resistance he was putting up was crushed, then everything should be just fine for the next phase. How Toffee longed for the day when he could finally put an end to the interfering welp, to squeeze the last of the life from his weak body. He would just have to be patient. Just a little bit longer and then, at last, he could finally rid the world of the Diaz name, forever.

...

Outside of the castle the mood seemed to be a far more pleasant one, as the early morning sun rose steadily into the sky, reflecting off of the smooth castle stones perfectly, casting beams of light into the woods that surrounded it. The world it seemed was awakening from its slumber as the sound of bird chirps and chitterings filled the air, the horrible night dawning into a beautiful morning. But such wonders were all but lost on Star, as she gazed up at the towering walls of the monster palace from her hiding spot, her mind too full of questions and concerns to notice anything else, a million bits of information scattering around her brain.

She was having a hard time grasping it all, Jackie and Janna's explanation making her feel more lost than ever before, her brain feeling like it might explode. Between the truth about Marco and Toffee's control over him, to Jackie and Janna's take on the after events of her kiss with Marco, to the memory of Marco's heartfelt goodbye, to her reluctant alliance with one of Toffee's monsters, she felt like her heart and mind were being pulled in a million different directions, nothing coming even remotely close to making sense or logic in this new, terrifying situation, and her lack of sleep certainty not helping make any of this any easier.

She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, reminding herself of what was at stake. She had to stay focused, finding Marco was the most important thing right then, she could always freak out over everything afterwards. But Star couldn't stop herself from casting weary glances at the bulky monster crouched beside her, still not sure what to think of their new "ally". After all, he had just shown up out of nowhere, claiming to want to help them save Marco, who was apparently his son (a fact that was still absolutely mind blowing to Star) and saying he was on their side. Star had been ready to narwhal blast him out of the forest if Jackie and Janna hadn't talked her down, confirming the monster's words to be truthful.

Once Star was calm enough that her friends weren't concerned she was going to do anything to the monster, Buff Frog had explained that after he had sent Marco away he had had to go into hiding, away from the monsters, Toffee claiming him to be a traitor and putting out direct orders to capture him on sight.

For a while, the frog had gone without any knowledge of what had become of his son, afraid to venture too far out and risk being seen, or worse leading the monsters to Marco. Still he had wished for the best, sending him to the most well guarded place in Mewni, the Butterfly Kingdom, hoping it would be enough to ward off Toffee and throw him off the boy's scent.

That was until two days ago when he had found the video of the Orphan's Ball, Buff Frog in awe at the sight of his adopted son dancing with the crown princess of Mewni, overjoyed to see him so happy and carefree. But his happiness was short lived as he realized that if he had seen the video than the chances were Toffee had too and once the frog monster realized the video was several days old he had thrown caution to the wind, as he headed off for the Butterfly Kingdom, hoping he would get there in time to save Marco.

Once he had arrived to a peaceful, quiet Mewni, he had tried to lay low and find Marco without drawing attention to himself, not wanting to disrupt the boy's happy life, his plan being to stop Toffee and the other monsters from ever reaching him, but that had fallen apart the second he had awoken to the sounds of explosions in the distance, the forest around him lit up by bright beams of magic as it seemed someone was struggling to hold off an attacker of some sort, the monster assuming the worst and rushing over as quickly as he could. But it seemed he been too late, as he had stumbled across not Marco, but Star and her friends, overhearing their hasty plan to rescue the kidnapped boy, his heart reaching out to the princess as she wept, her love and fear for the boy as strong his own, deciding to risk exposing himself to them in hopes of gaining their help to save Marco, offering to take them to him and help set him free from Toffee's evil grasp for good.

And, Star had to admit, so far, he had kept true to his word, as she stood in the shadow of Toffee's lair, but still Star was having trouble accepting that he was on their side, unable to trust him completely. After all, helpful or not, he was still a monster. A monster who had not only worked beside Toffee, but acted as his second-in-command. For all she knew he could be lying and this whole thing was just a massive trap set up for her to fall in.

"You're sure Marco's in there?" Star asked for about the fifth time since arriving there, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the monster, but Buff Frog didn't seem to notice, simply nodding his head.

"Da. Marco in there, I sure of it," the frog responded.

"This does seem to be the place," Jackie pointed out from Star's other side.

"So then what are we waiting for?" Janna called from her position on the branch of a tree, trying to get a better look at the castle. "Let's stop waiting around and go save him already."

 _Well she certainly is enthusiastic for once_ , Star thought, holding back rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Jackie pitched in confidently, holding an elated fist in the air, taking Janna's side for once. "What's the plan Star?"

"Ummm," Star said thoughtfully, still trying to figure out that part, getting into the castle, it seemed, was easier said than done, as Star studied the stone structure for any weaknesses. The castle was very well built and fortified, the calculating monster clearly thinking of everything, every nook and cranny sealed and closed to perfection, every window and door shut tight (some of them even barricaded), the smooth stone walls unclimbable, even their dimensional scissors unable to open a portal directly into the lair, the only way in as far as Star could tell was through the front gates, which were constantly guarded by at least two monsters at a time, making it impossible to get in without being spotted, Star at a total loss of what to do next now that they were here.

She sighed in defeat, looking over to the monster, asking suspiciously, "I don't suppose you have a plan to get us in?"

Buff Frog nodded. "I know of way," he responded simply.

"And what exactly is that?" Star said in a demanding tone.

The monster rose, looking down at the girls saying only, "Follow me," before heading off around the castle's side, making sure to stay out of the monster guards' vision. Star shared a look with Jackie and then Janna, who had dropped down from the tree branch, silently asking them both d _o-you-really-think-we-can-trust-him_ , to which both the girls merely shrugged and followed after the monster, Star hesitating, giving one last longing look up at the castle, before chasing after the group, making up the rear of their little party.

…

An uncomfortable silence formed, as the three girls followed after the frog monster, Star getting wearier and wearier with every step, as Buff Frog seemed to be leading them further away from the castle. But she held her tongue, knowing the monster was her best bet to finding Marco. She felt her heart flutter at the mere thought of him, wondering what he was doing right then, hoping he was safe.

Jackie looked behind her, seeing Star's worried face, and came to a stop, waiting for the girl to catch up, before whispering quietly, "Hey." Star seemed to snap out of her stupor, coming to a stop as well, looking at her friend with a zoned out look in her eyes. "He's gonna be alright," Jackie soothed and Star nodded, giving a weak smile, but the white-haired girl could see she wasn't convinced. _Poor Star_ , she thought, her eyes softening as the saddened princess passed her, following after Janna and Buff Frog with slowly, steady steps. _This has got to be hard for her._

Finally, it seemed they had reached their destination, Buff Frog coming to a stop, the four now standing in a forest clearing, a short distance away from the castle, Jackie confused as to why the monster had led them to that particular spot. There didn't seem to be anything of real interest there, the grassy glade looking no different than any other in the dense woods, making Jackie question the reasoning behind Buff Frog's choice to bring them there.

Star didn't seem convinced either as she asked with a weary tone, "Uh, why did we stop?"

"Yeah, what gives, Buff Frog?" Janna added, putting her hands to her hips. "I thought you were taking us to Marco."

"If this is some kind of trick..." Star started, drawing her wand from her cloud purse.

"Please, please," Buff Frog said, waving his hands in a pleading gesture. "Is no trick. Is secret passage."

"Secret passage?" Star repeated quizzically, lowering her wand.

"Da," Buff Frog said, before moving a bush aside, reveling an underground entrance. "Castle use to belong to monster leader before Toffee," he explained, as Star and the others gathered around the hole, staring down into the darkness waiting below. "He had many secret routes set up all over castle. Not even Toffee knows about them."

"Then how exactly did you know these were here?" Jackie asked, looking up at the monster.

Buff Frog became suddenly flustered by the question, as he quickly responded, "Not important how I know, only thing that matters is that this will take us into castle without others knowing. Now quickly follow me."

He braced himself, about to jump into the hole without a second thought until Star stepped in front of him holding up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up there buddy," Star said, suspicion in her tone. "You're not getting away that easily."

"Here we go again," Janna muttered, rolling her eyes, feeling like this was going to take a while. She turned to Jackie saying, "If you need me I'll be down in the hole."

"Wait, you're really going to jump without knowing what's down there," Jackie asked with concern.

Janna shrugged saying nonchalantly, "Eh, why not? We've done stupider things." Before she jumped down, disappearing from sight, causing Jackie to sigh.

"Still doesn't make it any better!" Jackie yelled down after her, shaking her head, before turning her attention back to Star and Buff Frog, the latter looking quite unsettled by the princess' cynical behavior.

"I don't know what you mean," Buff Frog asked, looking puzzled.

"I mean, what makes you think we can even trust you?" she asked bluntly, crossing her arms as she glared at the monster, waiting for a response.

"Because I trying to help save Marco," Buff Frog responded honestly, matching Star's gaze.

"And why do you even care?" Star asked, her tone raising with every word. "If you hadn't abandoned him in the first place none of this would have even happened!"

"Star," Jackie pleaded, but the blond silenced her.

"No, Jackie!" she screamed, causing Jackie to jump at the harshness in her tone. "I want to hear what he has to say!"

Buff Frog's soft face seemed to harden, as he gave the girl an intense, almost scolding look, Star becoming quickly unsettled as his beady yellow eyes focused in on her, trying not to show her discomfort to the monster. Jackie watching the two uncomfortably, the hole looking more and more inviting to her with every second that passed. Finally, he spoke in a low, soft tone. "Is true I have done many horrible things to Mewmans, things I could never hope to make up for, things I could never forget." He paused for a moment, his eyes filling with pain and regret, before continuing in an much louder voice. "But do not _ever_ question my love for Marco, everything I have done I've done to protect him. And when I was forced to send him away, there was not day that went by that I did not ache for him and miss seeing his smiling face. You may say whatever you want about me, but do not say I don't care about Marco, because he is whole world to me."

Star broke off her gaze from the monster, the frog's doting words moving her as she looked shamefacedly at her feet, feeling her heart ache with regret for losing her temper. "I-I'm sorry," she apologized, still not meeting the monster's eye. "I shouldn't have snapped like that." Buff Frog's face softened, seeing the guilt hovering in the girl's eyes. She sniffed, as if she was fighting back tears, her breathing shaky and erratic. "The truth is I'm only hating myself for not protecting Marco better. I promised him I'd always be there for him, but even with the wand, I was still powerless to stop Toffee from taking him away." Star pressed her palms against her eyes, adding, "This is my fault, not yours."

But she froze feeling a hand on her shoulder, at first thinking it was Jackie's, but realized it was too large and bulky to be her skater friend's, removing her own hands from her face as she stared at the sympathetic face of Buff Frog. "Then it seems we both have a lot to make up to Marco," he said, smiling at her. Star said nothing, just taking in a few shaky breaths, a single tear sliding down her cheek. "But this no time for tears or doubt," he added, softly wiping the water from her face, giving her shoulder a very soft squeeze. "Now we must work together and save boy, then can feel sorry for ourselves."

Star nodded, surprised by the monster's wisdom, saying, "You're right. Thank you." Buff Frog released his hold on her, as she laughed, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. "Never thought I'd ever be thanking a monster for anything," she admitted. She paused, before adding, "I see where Marco gets his sweet side from, though."

"Not really. I'm honestly not sure where he gets it. Marco is better boy than I could have hoped for," Buff Frog admitted and the two shared a smile as they thought of the boy.

"Are you guys coming or what?" Janna's voice called from within the hole, breaking the Mewman and monster's moment. "It's really damp down here and my boots are gonna ruin if we don't get going soon."

"Well that's what you get for not thinking ahead," Jackie scolded, Star rolling her eyes as she came up next to her.

"We're coming, Janna," Star called. She turned back to the monster, gesturing to the hole, saying, "Uh, after you." The amphibian nodded, jumping expertly down the hole, leaving the two girl's alone.

Star and Jackie looked down at the darkness waiting below with serious expressions, the gravity of the situation seeming to have dawned on them, knowing that once they jumped there would be no going back. "You ready?" Jackie asked, confidence radiating off of her, taking Star's hand in hers, as they prepared to take the plunge.

Star didn't even hesitate, nodding, an equally calm look on her face as she smiled at her friend. "Yeah, let's do it," she said.

Then, just like that, the two jumped down the dark hole together, hand in hand, ready to face whatever lied within.

…

The passage was a success, Buff Frog's word on point once again, as they entered into the monster infested castle quickly and quietly, the amphibian able to maneuver them around the monsters that walked the dark halls without being seen, the girls making sure to sneak as soundlessly as possible, until the gang found themselves peeking around the corner at the lobster monster that guarded the entrance into Marco's room.

"So that's where their keeping him, huh?" Star asked in a whisper, her eyes never leaving the alert lobster.

Buff Frog nodded. "It would seem that way," he replied, in a hushed voice.

"Stashing him in his room," Janna added. "A little predictable, don't you think?"

"Not like he's expecting us," Jackie retorted, looking down at her friend.

Star pulled away from the wall, the others doing the same, looking between her comrades with a questioning gaze, asking them all, "So anybody got any plans for getting past the guard?"

"Well not that you mention it-" Janna began, putting a finger to her chin, a mischievous look in her eyes, but Star, raised a hand, quickly interrupting her.

"Anybody other than Jannahave a plan to get us inside," Star corrected herself, looking annoyed.

"Maybe you could use your wand to knock him out?" Jackie suggested, Star grimacing at the idea.

"Uhhh, no way. Too much noise. We need to do this quietly," the princess said tensely, unable to think of a single spell that didn't result in a direct explosion.

"We could wait till he goes to sleep and then sneak past him?" Jackie said weakly, shrugging.

"That would take forever," Janna argued, before adding with a smirk, "What we really need is a distraction."

Star's face seemed to brighten at that, saying semi-loudly, "Great idea, Jan."

"Okay just leave everything to me," Janna said, putting an arm around her royal friend. "All I need is some cloth, a lighter and about ten liters of gasoline." She ticked off the items on her fingers, as she listed them, Star looking increasingly annoyed.

"Janna!" Star scolded with a chiding glare, lifting the creepy girl's arm off of her. "How many times do we have to tell you, no setting anything on fire."

"Aw come on," Janna reasoned, giving her a winning smile. "Why not?"

"Did you not understand the part about us needing to do this quietly..." Jackie asked, hands on her hips. "Y'know without attracting attention to ourselves?"

"What, I'd be subtle," Janna defended, both girl's giving her disbelieving looks.

The girls continued to argue amongst themselves, all of them so busy with their heated discussion that none of them noticed Buff Frog, who merely watched them quietly, looking deep in thought. He peeked around the corner again, watching the crustacean intently, Lobster Claws for once on high alert, his eyes scanning the corridor around him continually. It seemed the monster was dead set on preventing anyone entry into the room, Buff Frog aware of only one thing that could get the lobster away from his post.

"We said no and that's final, Janna," Star said, her hands on her hips. "We need to think of something else."

"I go."

All three girls gasped, as they turned to look at the frog monster, who was giving them a very serious expression. "Huh?" Star said, confused. "What do you mean? Go where?"

Buff Frog put a claw to his muscular chest saying in a firm voice, "I lead monster away from Marco, then you and friends can rescue him."

"What, no?!" Star shouted, alarmed, taking a step toward the monster. "You can't do that."

"I must to rescue Marco," Buff Frog argued, sounding strong and sure, his eyes full of resolve.

"But it's too dangerous, you'll get caught," she pleaded, trying desperately to talk the monster out of his crazy plan.

The frog monster bent down, putting his bulky claws softly on her shoulders, looking deep into her fearful eyes. "Is only way, princess," he reasoned, a calmness in his tone, his face free of worry, looking far more sure than Star felt. "There is no more time. Listen, is up to you now. You must find Marco and get him far away from Toffee. Can I trust you to look after my boy?"

Star nodded slowly, looking deep into his eyes, saying, "Yes. You can count on me."

"Good," Buff Frog said, standing to full height, looking strong and confident as he towered over the girl, his eyes filling with pain for just a moment. "I know you will be good to him. Tell Marco to have good life and that I am so proud of who he's become."

Before Star could even answer, the monster had pulled away, running out of his cover, heading straight for the lobster monster in a maddened dash. Lobster Claws spotted the monster at the last moment, about to scream something, but Buff Frog was quicker, as he punched the crustacean hard in the face, causing the monster to stumble and bang into the door behind him, his hardened shell blocking him from the majority of the pain.

Marco, who was leaned against his door, exhausted from all the screaming, tears running down his cheeks, felt the door shudder as something big crashed into it from the other side, immediately pulling away from it and staring at it intensely. _What was that?_

Lobster Claws rubbed his aching cheek with the back of one of his pincers, glaring as the monster continued past him, running full speed down the corridor. He growled with anger and frustration at the departing monster, before chasing after him, screaming, "Wait, stop!"

Once the monster was out of sight, Star and the others left their hiding spot, running quickly over to the door, Jackie keeping a look out for any more signs of the monsters, still hearing the monster as he sounded the alarm to the rest of the castle, "Guys! He's here! Buff Frog's in the castle!"

Star quickly turned to Janna, saying quietly to her, "Okay, Jan, it's all you. Work your magic."

"With pleasure," the girl replied, pulling a hair pin from her beanie and immediately inserting it into the lock.

Marco, watching the door intently, saw the doorknob jiggling as someone attempted to open it, feeling his heart fly into his throat. Oh no, was Toffee back? He wasn't sure if he could take another confrontation from the lizard, backing away from the door, looking for some kind of hiding spot, or at the very least a weapon to defend himself with. Finally, his eyes landed on the untouched food tray Toffee had brought him.

Star watched over Janna's shoulder as she worked, asking after a couple of seconds, "Sooo, how long is this going to take?" Her answer coming immediately after, as she heard a click from the knob.

"Done," Janna said, removing the hair pin from the doorknob and rising to her feet once again, her face a cocky smirk. "It's all yours, princess."

"Janna you're amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Star praised, giving the girl a quick hug, before directing her attention to the door, Jackie coming up behind Janna.

"Wow, that was fast, even for you," Jackie said playfully, nudging her in the shoulder.

"Please, that was nothing for a professional," Janna said, pointing to herself, trying to sound modest, but her smug smile giving her away immediately. "I was actually kinda hoping for a bit more of a challenge."

"Guys," Star called to get their full attention. Once their eyes were on her she added, "Ready?" The two nodded and Star took in a deep breath. This was it. She couldn't help but wonder if this whole thing was a trap. Though she was starting to trust Buff Frog, what if he was wrong about where Toffee had hidden Marco? What if Marco wasn't in there at all? Or worse, what if Toffee instead was waiting for them on the other side?

 _Calm down_ , Star reminded herself, trying to will her racing heart to a more normal pace. _It's too late to back down now_ , she reminded herself. _Ready or not, I have to face whatevers on the other side of this door._ And with that, Star turned the knob, opening the door a crack and peeking her head in, looking around the dark room as she waited for her eyes to adjust. "Go away!" Star heard a voice scream in the darkness, and she risked opening it wider, the dull light of the hallway filling a portion of the room, lighting up Marco, who held a tray in front of him, as if it were some kind of make-shift shield, his eyes closed tight, as he looked away from the invaders on his privacy, trying to sound braver than he looked. "I-I'm warning you, if you don't leave right now, Master Toffee, I'll- I'll-"

Star felt a joy overtake her at the mere sight of him, a smile widening on her face. "Marco, it's me!" Star screamed, taking a few steps closer, trying to calm his fears.

Marco's eyes flew open as he recognized the source of the familiar voice. _No, it couldn't be_ , he thought. Slowly, he turned in the direction of the voice, lowering the tray slightly, time seeming to slow as his eyes landed on Star, her beautiful blond locks glowing golden from the light behind her, her face bright pink as her heart cheek marks radiated in the dark room, her blue eyes twinkling like her namesake, looking as bright and vast as ever, as she gave him a heart-stopping smile.

"Star," Marco muttered in disbelief, the tray clattering to the floor in front of him, as Marco and Star just stared at each other, the seconds seeming to stretch on for eternity, the two lost in each others eyes. Then, suddenly, Marco seemed to recover from his shock, as he jumped toward the girl, flinging his arms around her in a surprise hug, practically leaping into her arms. "Star!"

But Star wasn't expecting the action, unable to stop herself from falling backwards as Marco's weight overwhelmed her own, the boy pulled down with her as the two were knocked uncomfortable to the ground by the overeager boy. But Marco didn't release his hold on the girl for a single second, squeezing his bestie as tightly as he could around her waist, as if afraid he would lose her again. Star, giggled at the boy, adjusting herself into a more comfortable sitting position, as she wrapped her own arms around his frame.

"You're here, you're really here," he muttered excitedly, overjoyed just to be near the girl again, a familiar warmth filling his body. And he felt his joy grow as he spotted two familiar figures in the doorway behind Star. "Jackie! Janna! You're here, too."

"Course we are," Jackie replied, giving him a bright smile. "We're your friends too, after all."

"Couldn't let Star take all the credit for rescuing you," Janna added, though she sounded sincere.

Marco smiled, glad all his friends were right there with him, the whole thing almost too good to be true. But suddenly a fearful thought occurred to the boy, thinking that perhaps this did seem to be too perfect of an outcome, his body going cold once again, the boy pulling away a bit from the crushing hug. "You are really here, aren't you?" he asked questioningly, looking up into Star's eyes with worry, afraid this whole thing was somehow just a dream or his imagination.

Star felt her heart melt at the look Marco was giving her, squeezing him even tighter, as she rested her cheek on the top of his head, holding him in a comforting embrace. "Of course I'm here," she said, softly, rubbing a hand up and down his back in a soothing motion. "I'm right here."

Marco felt his body beginning to relax under her soothing touch, letting the hug deepen and the warmth return. Marco was surprised though, as he felt tears beginning to spring up in his eyes, the boy not understanding the meaning for them. He wasn't sad, in fact, he was glad to see her again, so why would he be crying? It didn't make any sense. But these tears felt different from the ones before, these tears were somehow making him feel good inside, adding onto the other warm emotions and mixing them together as one.

Marco decided to let the thought go for the moment, as he pulled out of the hug, looking deep into her sky blue eyes with endearment. "You really came back for me," he said in almost disbelief.

"Of course I did, Marco," she said, her eyes twinkling as they gazed lovingly into his. "I'd never leave you behind."

"Really?" he asked, his voice a breathless whisper.

"Really," Star said, taking his hands into her own, giving them a small, affectionate squeeze. "I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

Marco smiled sadly, his eyes looking away from her own. "Marco, what's wrong?" Star asked with concern.

"I'm sorry for not telling you the truth about Toffee," Marco replied hesitantly, Star seeing the pain hidden behind his eyes. "I was just afraid that you would hate me if you knew."

Star gave him a sympathetic smile, cupping a hand on his cheek, his suns spinning in response to her touch, as she gently turned his head so he was looking into her eyes again. "That could never happen," she said. "I could never hate you. You mean everything to me, Marco. And there's nothing you or anyone else could do to change that."

Marco smiled, the look the cutest thing Star thought she had ever seen and she couldn't help herself as she gently kissed his forehead, causing the boy to blush as he felt her soft lips brush against his skin, his heart thumping out of control in his chest. "I promise," she continued, pressing her forehead against his own, right on the spot she had kissed, Marco feeling like his forehead was somehow on fire, the whole thing tingling out of control. "I'm never gonna leave you alone. And I won't let anyone take you away from me again."

"Thanks Star," Marco said, closing his eyes, letting the moment drag on for as long as it wanted, content just remaining there with Star. Jackie and Janna just watched the touching moment unfold in silence, feeling their own hearts swell as they kept taking quick glances back at the duo holding each other closely, but making sure to keep an eye out for any monsters that might be lurking about. Though they both felt pressured to get out of that castle as hastily as possible, every second making them more and more anxious, neither could bring themselves to ruin the tearful reunion for the two, giving them their space to work out their feelings, even if this was the worst possible place (not to mention time) to do it at.

Star seemed to realize this as well, as she opened her eyes, studying Marco's face for a moment, the hooded boy following her example, the two just staring deep into one another's bright eyes. Until finally, Star rose to her feet, offering the boy a hand up, which he took eagerly, giving her a warm smile. She led him over to Jackie and Janna, who he immediately hugged, the two squeezing him back, glad to be reunited with their lost friend.

Once Marco pulled out of the hug, he looked between his three friends, saying, "I still can't believe you're all really here. How did you even find me?"

"Buff Frog showed us the way," Jackie explained and Marco looked astonished at the news, his mouth dropping open, his eyes glazing over with pain and confusion.

"Buff Frog," he repeated numbly, the three giving him concerned looks, as he panted slightly.

"Yeah, that's right," Janna confirmed, raising a doubtful eyebrow at the boy. "Why what's the deal?"

"I-I thought he was dead," Marco responded hesitantly.

The girls looked shocked at that, sharing looks with one another. "Why would you think that?" Star asked.

"Toffee... he told me... that..." Marco's eyes widened, suddenly, everything making sense, the lizard's manipulative words returning to him."Oh, no he didn't. He said he was 'no longer with us'," Marco said thoughtfully, putting a hand to his head. Marco felt hope fill his chest, the emptiness he had been feeling lessening quite a bit.

"That's what he told you?" Janna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Jeez, he couldn't have been more sneakier about wording that if he had tried."

"Then that means, Buff Frog's alive," Marco shouted with joy, a smile lighting up his face and the three nodded. "And he's really here!" The boy began trying to peek around the girls that blocked the entrance, hoping to spot his 'now living' father somewhere behind him. But he stopped, seeing the sheepish faces that surrounded him, the three going remarkably quiet, not looking in his direction. "What? What is it?" Marco asked with concern, looking between his friends, his eyes lingering on Star. "He is here, isn't he?"

Star finally matched his gaze, her eyes shimmering with distress, as she simply said, "Yes and no."

Marco looked confused at that statement, asking, "Huh?"

"He did bring us here," Star continued, looking quite uncomfortable telling the boy. "In fact, we never would have found you without his help. But he isn't here now."

Marco's face filled with pain as he unhappily whispered, "Did he not want to see me?"

"No, no," Star said, waving her hands wildly at the boy. "The exact opposite, actually. He told me he was so proud of you."

Marco smiled sadly at the girl, but the pain didn't leave his eyes. "Then why isn't he here?"

"He..." Star hesitated, afraid of upsetting the boy. "He used himself as bait to draw the monsters away so we could save you."

"What?!" Marco cried, the three girls flinching at his distressed tone. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"We tried," Star said stressed, giving him a remorseful look. "But he didn't give us a choice."

"He wanted us to put finding you above anything else, including himself," Jackie pitched in.

"Well what are we waiting for then, we have to go rescue him before it's too late," Marco shouted, already heading for the door, but he was stopped as Star grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back.

"Wait, Marco," Star said and he turned to look back at her flustered.

"We don't have time to wait," Marco argued, on the brink of hysteria. "Buff Frog's in trouble!"

"I know he is," Star replied, sounding torn. "And I promise I'm gonna do whatever I can to help him, but right now I need you to go with Jackie and Janna and get as far away from all of this as possible." She shoved the dimensional scissors into his hand, giving him a bittersweet smile.

"What no?!" Marco said, rejecting the girl's decision. "I'm not going to let you go in there alone. I want to come with you."

"Marco, you can't. I promised Buff Frog I would keep you safe," Star admitted, giving him a pleading look.

"But if you go out there alone, then who will keep you safe," Marco pointed out, Star saying nothing to that. "Look, I know you're worried about me, Star," he continued, Star surprised by the firmness she heard in his voice. "But please, you've got to let me help you. I can't just sit back and do nothing, he's my dad."

Star saw the sadness on the boy's face and she wanted to say yes, knowing how important it was to him, but still she couldn't quite agree to it, still feeling anxious about letting Toffee get close to Marco, guilt over not protecting him making her hesitant. Everytime she started to say yes, she would unintentionally recall a memory of the previous night, the fear still present even now, the image of watching helplessly as Marco walked away from her and through the portal with the most feared monster in Mewni still alive and real in her mind.

"What if Toffee shows up?" Star asked, worriedly, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. "What if he hurts you again?"

"I'm not afraid," Marco said, shaking his head. He paused, before admitting quickly, "Okay I am. But I can't let that stop me." He thought for a second, before suggesting, "Maybe if I talk to the other monsters I can convince them to stop."

"But you already tried that with Beard Deer and it didn't work," Jackie spoke up.

"I have to at least try," Marco defended. "I can't let Master Toffee take away my monster family, too."

The three girls shared bewildered looks with one another, their faces softening. "What do you mean?" Jackie asked the boy.

"Yeah, you told us your original parents died in a fire," Janna added, questioningly.

"I was wrong," Marco said, his voice pure agony, squeezing his eyes shut and looking away. "Master Toffee killed them."

"What?" all three girls cried at once.

Marco nodded, sadly, unable to find the words to confirm what he was saying was true, still partially wishing it wasn't. But he forced the pain away, swiping at his eyes with his sleeve, before giving them a more controlled look. "Which is why I have to talk to the others," Marco insisted, his voice a flurry of emotions and Star felt her resolve weaken at the pain she saw hidden deep in his eyes. "I won't run away and leave Master Toffee to control them. Please, Star, I have to stop him... I have to at least try."

For a few tense seconds Star said nothing, staring into Marco's pleading eyes. Finally, she took his hand in hers, surprising Marco as she nodded, smiling sweetly at him, her eyes shining with pride. "Okay then, let's stop him together," she said confidently, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. The boy gave her a grateful smile, ignoring the tingling he was feeling in his hand from contact with her soft skin.

"Ahem!" Star and Marco broke off their stare, as their attention was drawn to Jackie and Janna who were giving them knowing looks, Janna's arm resting on Jackie's shoulder. "Forgetting something?" Janna asked playfully, wagging a eyebrow at the two, who held back their blush.

"Oh, right," Star said sheepishly, remembering the two other girls who had come with them. "Ummm, well you two are welcome to go back if you want."

"Please," Janna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And miss helping take down an evil tyrant, not a chance."

"Yeah, you can't get rid of us that easily," Jackie added, teasingly. "We're coming, too."

"Well then get over here," Star shot back, giving them a fake glare. Jackie and Janna obeyed, stepping over to join the two, placing their hands on top of Star and Marco's, the four friends now huddled together in a group. For a moment, the besties all just looked between one another, a nervous energy buzzing in the air around the teens, making all of them eager and anxious to get going, feeling confident that they could succeed. Whatever happened, they would face it together, all of them stronger when they stood as one. And, for a brief moment, Marco's eye caught Star's, the two sharing a blissful couple of seconds together, seeing the resolve and encouragement shining in their partner's eyes, before Marco said in a clear and calm voice, his heart pounding away in his chest, "Okay, guys.. let's go take down Toffee."

 **Well there you go! Hope you guys liked it! So what did you guys think of the twist about Marco's parents? I wondered how many of you guys had actually guessed that. I thought I was being really predictable, but I think it actually went over some people's heads, so yay! Also the ending scene between Marco and Star was one of my favorites to write ever! I listened to quite a bit of TheFatRat's beautiful masterpiece, "Never be Alone" while working on that part and it really influenced the moment. It really does sum up their relationship with each other perfectly. It's kinda is my go to song for this one.**

 **So, anyways, the next one is going to be prettttyy big in case you couldn't tell so I'm not even gonna try and kid myself and say I can get it done in two weeks and instead give myself the benefit of the doubt and give myself three. And I will be hard at work to bring you guys the best chapter I can. So as always, please feel free to favorite, follow, and comment and I will see you guys next time! Love you all! *Huggssss!***

 **animefan1991- Thanks and it's good to be back! Yeah, I totally agree with you, I thought the interactions between Toffee and Marco were pretty great and I was sad to see it didn't really go anywhere, though I did love the one scene they kinda shared together in Battle for Mewni, where Marco just lost it after thinking Star was gone. :') Man, gets me every time! I also _really_ want Toffee to make a comeback in Season 4! He is one of my favorite villains ever and I was just kinda disappointed to see him die so soon, especially since he was only in the second half of season 1 and barely in season 2. He's just got this great presence, I always enjoy a passive aggressive villain! **

**Funny you should ask, I actually am going more into it this chapter! Though, I will be giving the whole story of Marco's parents in the second arc! So, something more to look forward to on top of everything else! I also really love your guesses, they were all really good and I kinda wanted one of those to be the twist! Anyways, thanks for the comment and I hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Meatpuppett- Awww, sorry for making you worry like that, but thank you so much for the concern, that's really sweet! :) Glad you liked the last one so much, friend, and I hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **The Intelligent Otaku 556- Aww, thanks, good to hear you enjoyed it so much! Though, I can see why you had an issue with the last part. Here's the thing though, unlike Terra who joined Slade because she thought she had something to gain from him (that being gaining control of her powers) and then felt it impossible to escape afterward (I always kinda thought it was implied that he was using some kind of form of mind control on her, idk), Marco went with Toffee entirely to save Star's life, that's the reason he gave in so quickly, because he knew fighting back might have gotten Star killed. Plus, Marco has been basically abused by Toffee his whole life, so the hold Toffee has on Marco is unfortunately a strong one. Still, not saying Marco won't overcome it, he'll just have to work harder at it to push through his fear. Sorry to hear that it did upset you a little bit though. But hey if "fighting back against their masters" is what you're looking for you might enjoy this one a bit more.**

 **OmegaDelta- Agreed. Marco is a pretty sensitive guy, he doesn't seem to handle stuff like this very well. Good guess, Toffee is using Marco as a puppet to get what he wants, but don't think he'll have much use for him once he achieves his goals, unfortunately. Also, uhhhh, probably not yet. If he does use magic it won't be anytime soon, sorry.**

 **Gamelover41592- Thanks! Haha, yes, absolutely, fatherly love will overcome all obstacles! Between him and Star, Toffee better watch his back, because I'm thinking he just made a big mistake!**

 **Allen Vth- Yep, that's what I love about Marco, even from a distance he's always helping out his friends! I actually went back and forth for a while because I wasn't sure if I wanted Star to know he was there until the end when Toffee recaptures him but I'm glad I went with the version I did. I'm a total dork for the "power of love" cliché. Haha yeah, the monsters greatest weakness: bright flashing lights! And also giant yarn monsters... those are pretty effective against monster as well, apparently. Maybe the King and Queen should just arm their knights with a bunch of flashlights when they go into battle.**

 **And yes, Janna is the best thing that ever happened to this world! I can't resist her, she's just too perfect not to use wherever I can. The part where she fought Beard Deer was so much fun to write and I always try to squeeze as much of her in as I possibly can!**

 **Finally, whatever Toffee does, you know it will not end well for Marco! Good thing the others are on their way and nothing is gonna stop them from saving Star's boyfriend... I mean friend. Thanks for the comment! Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **zeldex72- Haha sorry, I actually ended up taking an extra week to get it done, too. :( Still it's here now so I hope you enjoy!**

 **Nonyaarb- Thank, glad you like it!**

 **Monkey lover 911- No, thank you! That means a lot! *bows humbly* Not to worry that and so much more will be revealed in this chapter! Enjoy, friend!**

 **Sugar- No, no, no! Not at all! I'm guessing it's a google translate mistake but this is actually only the end of the first part of my story. I still have a long ways to go before I'm finished! So don't worry you have a lot more of me and my little old fic to look forward to. Also I appreciate the constructive criticisms especially coming from a fellow writer I'm always looking to improve myself where I can, so any tips I can get go a long way in that.**

 **So for the first part I totally agree with you on that, didn't even realize that that was a mistake till you pointed it out. But you're right Marco was feeling panicked to go and help Star so having him hesitate didn't really convey how urgent the situation was. What I was trying to do was show that Marco was feeling torn on what to do but seeing as how he knows how skilled Janna is he should have trusted she had it and went immediately after Star.**

 **As for Marco fighting, ummm, well he will get stronger as the story goes on, growing and learning to overcome his obstacles and I definitely don't want him to just run away like a coward, but I don't really want him to be a big fighter in this story. He will find other ways to help and hold his own, but he will resolve most of his problems without violence. Still I will try and make sure he doesn't come across as being helpless.**

 **Bedrock Armor- Hi, I'm so glad you enjoy this story! Sorry I wasn't able to get this one out in time! I tried my best but it wasn't enough, I just got overwhelmed with life and everything and then got a massive case of writer's block for a few days! :( Still, happy late birthday, I hope you enjoy the chapter even if it is late!**

 **Nicholas Friar- Glad to hear you're looking forward to it! Well here it is and don't worry Marco does do more to fight back in this one.**

 **Next update: 3 weeks**


	18. Monster Rebellion

Chapter 17: Monster Rebellion

 **Hey everyone! Happy anniversary! *throws confetti into the air* That's right! I've officially been doing this story for one full year! Wow! I can't believe it, it feels like just yesterday I started making this wonderful story for you all! And you guys have made it the absolute best year of my life! Seriously, you guys are just fantastic, I have so enjoyed writing and making friends with you all! Thank you so much for every single favorite, follow, and review and for helping me reach over 200 followers! And also, just taking the time to read and keep up with this story of mine!**

 **So, I know it took a bit longer than expected, but I finally bring to you all the big climax of season 1! I reeeeaaaaly don't want to keep you all for too long, so as always hope you enjoy and I will see you again at the bottom!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the Forces of Evil and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

Toffee was in his room, just sitting quietly in the dark, scheming, when he was notified of the intruder in the castle. Bearicorn was the one to tell him, slamming the door open without a second thought, his usual fear for his safety overlooked in this particular incident, as he yelled loudly into the impenetrable darkness, "Master Toffee, Buff Frog is in the castle! We think he's here for Marco!"

Toffee just smiled, his claws absentmindedly fiddling with his glowing green ring, as he muttered darkly, "Predictable as ever."

"Master Toffee?" Bearicorn questioned, fairly sure he had heard his leader whisper something under his breath, but had been unable to hear what he had said.

"Tell the others to find and capture him alive, I want him to pay for what he's done," the suit wearing lizard commanded, suddenly stepping out of the shadows and into Bearicorn's sight. The bear monster nodded and went to leave, but stopped as Toffee added one final instruction to fulfill. "And have Lobster Claws bring Marco here for safety precautions. I will join you all once Buff Frog is subdued."

"Umm, well, Lobster Claws was the first one to see Buff Frog so he left his post to try and chase after him," Bearicorn hesitantly admitted.

There was a short pause, Toffee's face unreadable, before he spoke in a low, dangerous tone, "You mean to tell me you all left him unguarded."

"Yes but, Buff Frog is on the other side of the castle, so Marco should be safe for now," Bearicorn supplied timidly, trying not to look his master directly in the eye as his stony gaze rested on him and him alone, the monster sweating profusely.

"You said Lobster Claws saw him first?"

"Yes, Master Toffee. He said Buff Frog punched him in the face and then ran away like the coward he is," Bearicorn growled angrily.

"So," Toffee said thoughtfully. "You're telling me Buff Frog just suddenly gave himself away, ruining his element of surprise, only to run off and abandon Marco without a second thought."

"Yeah, that's right," Bearicorn said, sounding skeptical as he pondered the amphibian's strange behavior, as well. "Guess Buff Frog isn't as smart as we thought after all."

"Indeed," Toffee said cryptically, though he seemed to still be lost in thought. Finally, his confusion seemed to vanish behind his impassive mask, as he said in a businesslike tone, "Still, that doesn't make him any less dangerous. Go and join the others in their search. I'll keep an eye on Marco, myself."

Before the bear could even say another word, Toffee was already gone, heading down the hallway with fast, confident strides, Bearicorn heading off the opposite way to catch up with the others and help apprehend the treacherous frog. But as the lizard continued forward, his mind became more and more troubled, his normally unreadable face beginning to show all of the emotions and uncertainties he tried so desperately to bury, too deep in thought to even bother hiding them at the moment. Something wasn't adding up in Toffee's mind, something about all of this felt wrong. He had already been anticipating Buff Frog's inevitable return, knowing that wherever Marco was the frog wasn't far behind, but his behavior not only confused Toffee, but alarmed him on several different levels. Though Buff Frog had made mistakes in the past, this felt like more than that, this wasn't a simple misstep or a slip up, this had felt intentional. He had allowed himself to be seen and had chosen to leave Marco behind even though it would have been far simpler to have just taken him right then and there, though for what reason Toffee didn't know. The lizard's gaze narrowed as he whispered in a cruel, savage hiss, "What are you playing at, Buff Frog?"

…

The monsters were frantic, as they searched the castle in a maddened haste. Somehow, Buff Frog had managed to slip away from Lobster Claws and now the rest of the monsters were forced to resort to the grueling task of searching every inch of the large, dark castle, so far with no luck in locating the tricky traitor. There were so many nooks and crannies it seemed almost impossible and as the search went on the monsters became more and more frustrated, Buff Frog seeming to have just disappeared from the castle without a trace.

And as Beard Deer continued on with the pointless search, he felt his anger only growing with with every failed attempt, unable to believe that stupid monster had actually had the guts to return to the castle. He would find him and when he did he was going to give that monster the pounding of his life for all the trouble he had caused.

Beard Deer sighed angrily, as he slammed shut yet another door that led to an empty room, the deer monster feeling no closer to finding the traitor than the last several rooms he had searched. What number was he at now? He had long since lost count. _Why does this stinkin' castle have to be so big?_! he thought in annoyance.

"Hey muscles!"

Beard Deer froze, dumbfounded by the familiar, cocky voice he had just heard, feeling a familiar anger flaring inside him. _No, that's not possible_ , he thought, trying to keep himself from losing his cool, convinced he was going crazy, somehow hearing the voice of that annoying Impure even there in his own home. He turned to leave, but to his surprise, she was there, the smug Impure casually leaned against a far wall, giving him a provoking grin too real to be a hallucination. Beard Deer felt his teeth grind together at the mere sight of her, his hands clenching into tight fists. "Miss me?" Janna taunted, still grinning widely, causing any restraint he had to break as he roared in anger.

"I'm gonna destroy you!" he yelled, as he ran at the girl in a blind rage.

"Now your talking," she said with a smirk, pushing herself off the wall and dodging the monster's attack, Beard Deer pounding a fist hard into the wall, ignoring the stinging in his wrist as he turned to see the girl running away down the hall, yelling over her shoulder, "But if you wanna destroy me you're gonna have to catch me first."

This only infuriated Beard Deer more as he chased after her, his roars echoing off the stone castle walls. "When I get my hands on you I'm gonna break every bone in your body, you little brat!"

…

In another part of the castle, Lobster Claws, Potato Baby, and one of the other monsters Big Chicken were hard at work retracting the crustaceans steps in hopes of finding where Buff Frog had disappeared too. "I'm telling you I saw him go around this corner," Lobster Claws demonstrated to his speech-inclined friends, waving his claw at the corner in question, before walking to the other side of it, the other monster right behind him. "And then he was just gone!"

Potato Baby mumbled something to him, which seemed to anger Lobster Claws as he glared at him. "No I didn't get distracted! He just vanished okay!"

Big Chicken then clucked something at him, Lobster Claws immediately responded loudly, "Yes, I'm sure!" He threw both claws into the air in exasperation, while the two other monsters shared a disbelieving look. "Ah, who cares what you think, anyways?" Lobster Claws added, turning away from the two. "Nobody but me can even understand you. Just help me look for him already."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle behind them, all of them turning on their heels to see a white-haired girl with a green streak waving at them, confidently, with no fear or anxiety on her face. All of them were shocked to say the least, staring at the teen wide-eyed, unsure how a Mewman stranger had managed to sneak into their castle, unnoticed. Or had found the secretly hidden castle in the first place. "Hey how did you get in here?" Lobster Claws growled, pointing a suspicious claw at her.

The girl didn't respond, instead she just turned and ran off, disappearing behind a corner, all three monsters chasing after her, trying not to lose sight of the unwanted intruder. But as they rounded the corner they saw that the girl was no longer on foot, but now riding on a skateboard, sailing expertly down the castle halls and quickly gaining speed. She turned and looked back at the monsters for just a second, as if provoking them to follow, and she was greeted by pounding footsteps behind her, as the monsters gave chase. Lobster Claws yelled after the fast-moving teen, already starting to pant, "Hey you, stop!" But Jackie wasn't shaken by the threatening tone in the monster's voice as she just focused on navigating the dark castle halls.

…

Meanwhile, in yet another part of the castle, the rest of the monsters were in hot pursuit of an intruder, trying to get ahead of her as she shot spell after spell behind her while she ran. "Cupcake Blast!" Star screamed, as she sent flaming cupcakes at the monsters, all of them being forced to duck underneath them before continuing their chase, somehow even the incredibly tall Spikeballs managing to avoid getting hit. "Is it just me or are these spells getting weaker every time?" the large monster stated to the others.

"She's getting tired," one of the other monsters explained to the rest. "She's just shooting off spells randomly without even bothering to aim." He smiled confidently, knowing the girl was becoming desperate. "We've got her now."

"Got them now," Star muttered tiredly to herself, panting wildly, looking behind her to see the dozen or so monsters still close behind. It hadn't been easy to get this many of them to follow her in the first place, having to go out of her way to find each of them and then taunt the monsters into the chase, each time more riskier than the last, the more monsters she had the greater chance of her getting caught, but if what Marco had told her was right then this should be most of them, Star trusting Jackie and Janna could handle rounding up the rest. She had to, her body quickly running out of steam from all the running, but if things went the way they planned then it would all be worth it in the end... hopefully.

"Strawberry Shake Quake!" Star screamed, making sure to aim her spell away from the monsters so she wouldn't hit any of them, but close enough to force them to slow down a bit, trying to buy herself a little more time. The monsters ducked and weaved around the strawberry-coated spell, the fruity projectiles coating the wall behind them rather than the monsters themselves, as they continued their pursuit.

Finally, Star ran into the meeting hall, where Toffee assigned the monsters most of their missions, essentially the heart of the castle. Several doors led into the single room, each providing entrance to the different wings of the castle. It was also the largest room in the mansion, matching Star's own great hall in terms of magnitude. And refinement for that matter, towering pillars and columns built around the room's base, a large, fancy table which the monster's used for meetings in the room's center, the whole area decorated with the same medieval tapestries as the rest of the old castle, giving the room an elegant look that was quite pleasing to the eye.

Not that Star noticed any of this as she ran in, more concerned about the monsters that were not that far behind. Just as she entered the luxurious room, another set of doors slammed open and Star saw Jackie skating in looking relaxed and at ease as she glided across the cobblestone floor, her three pursuers entering a moment later, panting like crazy from the exhausting trek though their own castle. "Hold... up... you... just a... minute," Lobster Claws gasped out weakly, the two monsters beside him looking equally as exhausted, as they tried to catch their breath.

But Jackie ignored the monster's threat, as she merely skated over to her friend, cheerfully calling out to the blond royal, "Hey Star!"

"Hey Jackie!" Star returned, panting slightly, a hand over her pounding heart, finding herself wishing she had taken the time to learn to skateboard, as her lungs cried out in pain. Jackie came to an expert stop next to her, stepping off her prized board and kicking it up so she could catch it mid-air. She removed her helmet, tucking it under her arm, before shaking her hair out, letting it settle back in its usual position. "So what'd I miss?" the skater asked.

"Lobster Claws what the heck is going on here?!" the girls heard one of the monsters yell, turning to see the bear monster glaring at his crustacean friend and the rest of his tired team.

"Yeah how did the princess and her friend get in the castle?!" one of the other monsters shouted, the others agreeing via growl.

"How should we know, we didn't have anything to do with it?!" Lobster Claws cried defensively.

"Well zzzomebody let them in here?" Boo Fly pointed out.

Jackie and Star rolled their eyes at the monsters arguing, all of them seeming to have forgotten the girls were even there. "So think that's all of them?" Jackie asked, turning her attention to Star instead.

"I hope so," Star replied.

"Something is starting to worry me though," Jackie said, sounding concerned.

"What's that?"

"Where's Janna?"

As if on cue, there was a muffled yell from the other side of the final pair of doors, everyone freezing and staring at the closed entryway in shock. "I'm gonna kill you!" came the familiar scream of the monster's current second-in-command, all of the other monsters muttering confusedly, "Boss?"

Then, the doors to the room busted open, Beard Deer sliding in on his back, all of the gathered monsters quickly running over to help the monster up, yelling this time, "Boss!"

Janna smugly entered the room, walking slowly but surely past the monsters, before joining her two friends, who were both giving her annoyed scowls.

"Subtle," Jackie said, raising an eyebrow at her creepy friend.

"We gave you one job, Janna. Just one," Star hissed, raising a single finger up to demonstrate her point.

"What? I brought him here, didn't I?" Janna said, with a shrug.

"Yes, but we're trying not to hurt any of them, remember?" Star countered.

"Hey, he attacked me, all I did was defend myself," Janna said, sliding her hands into her pockets, their attempt at scolding obviously not reaching her stubborn mind. The two girls sighed, knowing it was impossible to reach through their friend's thick skull, Star pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Fine whatever," the princess breathed, deciding to let it go. "Can we just move on to the next phase of the plan, please?"

Meanwhile, Bearicorn tried to offer Beard Deer a hand up, asking with concern, "You okay, boss?" But he was thwarted as the infuriated monster slapped his paw away, making the bear cry out in pain.

"I'm fine, you idiots," Beard Deer growled, losing any and all patients for the monster's needless fussing. "Just grab those kids!" He pointed to Star and the others, who heard the monster's yell and were instantly on guard, all of them facing down the large group of monsters as they slowly stalked closer, the three retreating farther and farther back into the room.

"Um, maybe this wasn't our best idea," Jackie anxiously pointed out, making sure to stay behind Star, who already had her wand drawn and ready, the whole thing glowing with magic energy. Star tried to ignore her own doubt, as she said in the calmest voice she could manage, "Look, we're not looking for a fight."

"Well that's too bad, princess," Beard Deer said, from the front of the pack. "Cause you're not leaving here without one." He pounded a fist into his claw, the other monsters laughing cruelly.

"Stop!" Every monster froze, as they all recognized the source of the voice, all of them taken by surprise as Marco stepped out from behind one of the pillars, giving them all a long, hard stare.

"Marco!" all the monsters screamed. "What are you doing here?" Lobster Claws asked with concern, thinking that Toffee was going to take care of the hooded boy during all of this. "Your supposed to be in your room."

"I couldn't just stay in there when all of this was going on, so I decided to come and help my friends," Marco responded, something about his voice sounding different, it sounded more confident and self-assured, throwing all of the monsters for a loop.

But this was only increased, as Marco marched over to the group he was talking about, now standing among, not the monsters, but the Mewman princess and her meddling friends. "Marco, get away from them!" Beard Deer cried in a scolding tone.

"No," Marco replied defiantly. "I won't. I'm not abandoning my friends."

"Your friends!" Bearicorn screamed. "But their Mewmans."

"So am I," Marco said, putting a hand to his chest. "Does that mean you're going to beat me up, too?" All of the monsters looked uncomfortable at the statement, while Beard Deer continued to glare at Star.

"This is all your fault!" Beard Deer said, pointing an accusing finger at the girl. "Your weird magic is making Marco turn on us. Now change him back or else!"

"Yeah!" the rest of the monsters cheered, but none of the Mewmans backed down even an inch.

"I'm not controlling Marco, Toffee lied to you," Star said, all of her years of princess training shining through at that moment, her voice projecting clearly around the room, sounding regal and composed.

"And why should we believe you?" one of the monsters yelled, all of the other monsters muttering in agreement.

"Because I'm telling the truth," she responded, tossing her wand to the ground in front of her to demonstrate her trustworthiness, before shooting Marco a loving smile, taking his hand in hers. "I would never use my magic on Marco like that." The monsters weren't sure how to react to that, looking amongst themselves with puzzled expressions.

"You guys didn't honestly believe that we were using magic to control Marco, did you?" Jackie asked, seeing their reluctance.

The monsters went silent, trying not to show their sheepishness. Though none of them wanted to admit it, the whole thing had seemed a little far-fetched even to them and deep down they all kinda knew Toffee was misleading them, but they had chosen to push their doubts aside and instead blindly trust the word of Toffee over their own common sense, the lie far less painful to accept than the horrible truth. "Yeah well, this-this has to be some kind of trick," Beard Deer said weakly, feeling uncomfortable by the look Star and Marco were sharing.

"The only one who has been tricking you has been Master Toffee," Marco said firmly, he and Star turning their attention back to the monsters. "He's been manipulating and using you all to help him get what he wants."

He looked between each of the familiar faces in front of him, surprised by all the shameful looks they were giving him, forcing Marco to realize something. "But you all know that already, don't you?" The disappointment in his voice was clear, all of the monsters feeling their stomachs churn with guilt for upsetting the boy.

There was a small pause before Spikeballs pitched in, "There's nothing we can do. He's our leader, we have to obey him."

Marco looked hurt by the statement as he muttered, "So you all willingly followed his orders even knowing what you were doing was wrong?"

None of the monsters dared to meet his eye. "You're just too young to understand yet, Marco," Beard Deer said regretfully, his voice the same hurt tone it had been in the forest.

"I understand that you are all killing innocent Mewmans, like me!" Marco yelled back, all of the monster flinching at that.

"We had no choice, Marco," Bearicorn countered. "The Mewmans had to pay for what they did to us. They stole our land. Starved us, forced us to live in poverty." He glared at Star as he said this. "They treated us all like garbage. And then Toffee came and he helped us to show them who the real monsters were." All of the monsters, muttered angrily in agreement, Star hanging her head in shame, not sure what to say, never realizing how horrible her own people had been to the monsters. Marco, on the other hand, wasn't done speaking.

"But you're all better than that," he said, his voice desperate and pleading. "I know you are. Toffee's convinced you all that the only answer is revenge, but it isn't. Even if things were bad that didn't mean you had to resort to violence. All Toffee's done is make things worse for everyone, monsters and Mewmans." Marco paused for a second, taking in the monsters as they all shifted uncomfortably on their feet, the boy feeling hope that his words were actually getting through to them.

"But it doesn't have to be that way," He continued, risking taking a few steps closer to the monsters and farther away from his friends' side. "We can make this right, all of us, we can turn on Toffee and fix everything."

"Well isn't that a touching thought." Marco felt the familiar pangs of dread overtake him, as he turned to see Toffee striding into the room, as confident as ever, barely even noticing the room go dead silent as he entered, as he just continued forward with one of his notoriously vacant expressions. "Monsters and Mewmans working together for a common cause, how profound." He did a quick scan of the faces of the crowd around him, the monsters with fear and the princess and her friends with hatred and resolve. But suddenly, Toffee stopped, his gaze lingering on Marco, who stood frozen in the middle of the two groups, the look on his face somehow a combination of both sides, as he seemed to be deciding on whether or not he was angry or afraid to see the monster leader there.

Star, seeing Toffee's gaze halt on Marco, felt a lump of fear form in her throat, rushing over to the boy and pulling him back to her side, making sure to grab her wand off the floor as she did, Marco's eyes never once leaving Toffee.

"So you're still trying to sway them to your side, Marco. How foolish," Toffee said in a condescending tone, moving so he was now standing between the monsters and the Mewmans. "Haven't you learned yet, they won't betray me... they know better than that." Behind him the monster's all shuddered, unknowingly showing off the power Toffee still obviously had over them.

Though Marco felt extremely uncomfortable with Toffee's unblinking stare focused on him and him alone, he didn't back down, Star's presence next to him giving him courage. He shot the businesslike monster a narrowed glare, pausing for a moment before saying in a hard tone, "Why or else you'll kill them like you did my parents?!"

Toffee seemed visibly unsettled at that, hearing the baffled chatter behind him, his eyes narrowing on the boy, Marco's doing the same, as if they were both waiting for the other to make their next move.

"Master Toffee, what is he talking about?" Lobster Claws suddenly spoke up from behind Toffee, interrupting the intense moment, the lizard turning around to see the suspicious stares of the other monsters.

But true to form, Toffee kept his cool, calmly addressing his fellow monsters, "Pay no attention to this boy's delusions-"

"It's not a delusion!" Marco interrupted the lizard, before directing his attention to the rest of the monsters. "Toffee told me himself, he killed them because they wanted peace and he's been using me ever since to make you do his bidding."

"Marco," Toffee began in a warning tone.

"And he said that once he got what he wanted he would kill me just like he did them," Marco finished, ignoring the lizard's scolding.

The monsters all gasped in shock, before boldly giving the lizard a narrowed glare. "Is this true?" Beard Deer asked, suspiciously.

"Of course not," Toffee instantly replied, with a small scoff in his tone, as if the idea was utterly ridiculous, his face remaining as emotionless as ever, hiding his crimes beneath his poker face. "He is obviously still under the princess's control, nothing he says should be taken seriously," But the monsters seemed divided, looking amongst each other with uncertainty, none of them sure who to believe, so Toffee added, "You know I have nothing against the boy. I only want what's best for all of you."

"You liar!" Star shouted.

"Stay out of this, princess," Toffee hissed at the girl. "This doesn't concern you."

"No, I won't!" Star said, defiantly. "And I think for once you should let the monsters decide who's side they're on, instead of forcing them to follow you."

"As compared to you," Toffee countered. "Don't forget you are by far the most guilty person in this room."

Star paused for a second, before speaking instead to the rest of the monsters in a far softer tone. "Look I know what my people did to you in the past was wrong and I'm so sorry that you had to suffer for my people's selfishness, but please, don't give Toffee the satisfaction of winning just because of a few people's mistakes."

"Mistakes?" Toffee scoffed, crossing his arms. "I'd hardly call what they did to us a mistake."

"No, but what you did wasn't a mistake, either," Marco pointed out, uncharacteristic anger in his tone.

"I know I may not deserve it," Star continued, giving the monsters a remorseful look. "But if you all give me a second chance, I promise that I will do whatever I can to make things right."

"We both will," Marco added, the two sharing a smile, as he gently squeezed her hand.

Toffee's face switched for a moment to a glare, but due to the fact that he was facing away from the monsters none of them saw it. "I believe this charade has gone on long enough," he said in a barely restrained tone, struggling to keep his monotone voice in check. He turned to the other monsters, commanding, "Kill the princess and reclaim Marco."

Star and the others immediately went on the defense, Star pulling Marco in closer to her and raising her wand as a form of protection, and Jackie and Janna who had been waiting quietly for the results of the argument, jumped bravely in front of the two, courageously placing themselves between their friends and the dreaded enemy that threatened to overtake them at any second, using themselves as human shields for the two. "Wait!" Marco shouted, grabbing onto Star's wrist, preventing her from using the wand properly, the blond giving him a confused stare. "Marco, what is it?" Star asked.

"Just look," Marco responded, pointing over to the monsters. And from the other side of the room, the unspeakable was happening, as for once in the entire time since Toffee's reign began the monsters hesitated, unsure what to do. "What are you waiting for?" Toffee said in a slightly raised tone. "Get Marco away from that girl before she can do any more damage."

But the monster's were torn, trying to decide which of their two emotions was stronger: their fear of Toffee or their love for Marco, all of them looking between the venomous glare of their leader and the pleading look of the boy they considered to be their child. "Please... don't do this," Marco said with one final beg, his voice pure agony. "It's not too late, you don't have to be this, you don't have to be what they all think you are."

"You know what will happen, should you all fail to follow my orders," Toffee said, menacingly.

Finally, one of the monster's walked forward, breaking away from the huddled group, Beard Deer, moving quickly past the lizard leader and now approaching the Mewmans with resolve in his every step. Star went to push Marco behind her, but to her surprise, Marco pulled away, slipping past Jackie and Janna and now standing directly in front of the monster.

"Marco!" Star screamed, Jackie and Janna looking equally as horrified. "Get out of there!"

But Marco didn't listen, just continuing to stare at the monster's unreadable face, trying to silently commune his pleading thoughts to the stubborn monster. The whole room seemed to hold it's breath, as they awaited the monster's reaction, Star, Jackie, and Janna ready to jump in if need be, all of them prepared to do whatever it took to protect the boy from the monster's possible wrath, Star struggling to keep herself from rushing over to Marco's rescue right then and there, as the seconds continued to stretch on and on. Finally, after what felt like an eternity later, Beard Deer sighed in annoyance, saying in a semi-frustrated tone, "Okay, fine, Marco. You win."

"Really?" the boy said, his eyes shining with joy.

"Really?" Beard Deer responded, the monster ruffling the boy's hair, just like he had done a million times before, showing affection toward the Mewman the only way he knew how. Star and the others relaxed, the girls sighing in relief that Marco wasn't in danger.

Toffee, however, was livid, hissing at the monster, "What do you think you're doing?" Not even bothering to hide the venom in his voice, as his eyes narrowed with a killer intent.

Beard Deer looked hesitant, but as he looked down and saw Marco's encouraging smile, he turned back to the monster with a hard stare, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "What I should have done all along," the monster responded, coldly. "Marco's right. It's time we stood up to you."

Marco smiled, before throwing his arms around the monster in a hug, thankful he had actually managed to sway one of the monsters to his side. From the other side of the room, the rest of the monsters were touched by the display, until another monster risked walking over to the other side joining up with Marco and his friends, then another, and another. Toffee just watched in growing resentment as his minion's abandoned him, one by one, Lobster Claws, then Potato Baby, Boo Fly, Spikeballs, until every monster now stood beside Marco, forming a protective circle around the boy, leaving Toffee alone.

"I don't believe this. You're not honestly going to side with this boy over me, are you?" Toffee asked, giving his ex-minions a glare. "After all the good I've done for you over the years."

"Like using us all to do your bidding!" Beard Deer countered angrily, the others shouting in agreement.

"Yeah, you tricked us into going to war with the Mewmans," Lobster Claws added. "A whole bunch of us have died just so you could get more power!"

"Not to mention all the innocent Mewmans that got killed, too," Marco pitched in, helpfully.

This continued on for a while, the monster shouting and muttering their opinions, as Star, Jackie, and Janna silently joined in on the rest of the group, Star eagerly taking hold of the boy's hand again, giving him another proud smile. Toffee, however, just waited patiently for the monsters to calm down.

And after a while, the angry chatter did lower down to a dull roar, giving the monster leader the opportunity to speak once again. Toffee straightened his suit before addressing his monsters in a terrifyingly calm voice, "I admit my methods can be a bit, drastic. But do not forget who made you who you are. If it wasn't for me, you would all still be living in the dirt. And do you remember who threw you there in the first place?" His tone became slightly harsher as he spoke. "It was the _Mewmans_. Don't think they've changed. They will never change. They will always try to control and use you all. None of them deserve to live in this world I have created. If there is any hope for us to survive then we need to eradicate every last one of them before they can destroy us all."

"Then you did kill Marco's parents," Beard Deer growled, between clenched teeth. Toffee didn't respond, but his hesitation was proof enough, the other monsters all roaring in anger at the lizard, upset that he would kill the only two Mewman's (other then Marco) who they had considered to be good, Toffee's serpent eyes darting between them all, silently.

"It's over, Toffee," Star spoke up, taking a step away from the monster crowd, Marco, his hand still intertwine with hers, did the same. There was a finality to her tone, her hatred toward the monster making her send him a hate-filled glare. "You've lost."

For a few seconds, Toffee said nothing, just staring at the princess with the same creepy, monotone expression as always, until he said softly, "No. Not yet, princess."

Before Star could even think about what he meant by that, Toffee snapped his fingers, every light in the castle simultaneously going out at once, a fail safe he had set up in just such an emergency. Star instinctively flinched as the world around her went pitch black, her hand losing some of its grip on Marco's. And in that second of hesitation, Star felt Marco being ripped from her grasp, as something quick and steady whooshed past her, dragging Marco along with it. "Marco!" Star screamed in terror, her heart pounding away in her chest, as she began turning in a dizzying circle, unsure which direction to go.

"Star!" Marco screamed back, his voice sounding distant, Star unable to tell how far away he was and having no doubt that with every second that past, he and his kidnapper gained even more distance from her.

Star was becoming panicked as she felt around blindly in the dark, her breathing becoming sporadic, as she tried desperately to locate the boy. "No! Marco! Marco, where are you?!" she screamed into the darkness, her voice wrenched with panic-stricken sobs, her concern growing as she could no longer hear a reply from the boy.

Suddenly, something grabbed hold of her hand, making Star jump in surprise. "This way!" the person called, Star recognizing the voice's source.

"Janna?" Star muttered in confusion.

"C'mon," the half-monster girl insisted, pulling roughly on Star's hand as she dragged her along. The two came upon Jackie, who was also stumbling around blindly, Janna grabbing her unexpectedly by the wrist, as well, before leading her two friends through the encompassing dark.

"What, Janna, how?" Jackie asked with surprise, as she struggled to keep up with her friend.

"Night vision, remember?" Janna replied smugly over her shoulder. But as she turned back in the direction the boy and the lizard had gone, her smile dropped, listening to the muffled scream in the distance with a frown. Good. She could still hear the boy's panicked screams... for now at least. But Toffee was still far in the lead, moving quickly and speedily, and with his knowledge of the castle's layout Janna was at a severe disadvantage. She needed to hurry and catch up with them, before it was too late.

"Lead the way then, Jan," Star said encouragingly, as she put all of her faith in her half-monster friend and her incredible vision, while Star's own were struggling to adjust to the darkness around her. Janna felt her heart expanding at the trust Star so obviously had in her and she silently vowed not to let her or Marco down.

"Right," Janna responded, confidently.

The rest of the monsters, it seemed, were recovering as well from their initial shock, rushing quickly after the lizard with battle cries, all of them out for blood it seemed, the few monsters who lacked night vision, following the sound of their comrade's screams. Soon, every single monster was in hot pursuit of Toffee, Janna and the others in the lead, as they all stormed deeper into the dark castle.

…

The air in the hidden passageway was cold and stale. The flaming torches that guarded the forgotten staircase reveling the two intruders in their dimly lit glow, casting sinister shadows on the wall beside them, the sound of echoing footsteps breaking the eery silence around the pair as they traveled deeper into the castle's underground. Toffee walked forward with steady, confident strides, his gaze and focus on the path before him, ignoring the struggling Mewman boy he was forcefully dragging behind him.

Toffee couldn't believe how badly things had gone! Thanks to Marco and that foolish princess all his careful planning had fallen apart, the once powerful, feared leader now forced to retreat with his tail between his legs, as his own monsters hunted him down like a common criminal. But this wasn't the end for him, not by a long shot. He would make them regret the day that had dared to defy him. And he would start by disposing of the annoying brat, of course, Toffee going to enjoy making them all squirm as he destroyed their one spark of peace, forever.

"Let me go!" Marco screamed, interrupting the monster's sinister thoughts, trying to pry his way loose from the lizard's grip, but it was too strong for him, the boy's arm beginning to hurt from how tightly Toffee was squeezing. "Must you be so loud," the lizard mumbled, not even bothering to turn around. But the boy didn't give up, as he dug his heels into the ground hoping to slow the lizard even a little and buy Star and the others some time. This only proved to be useless, however, as the lizard just continued forward, causing the boy to stumble and almost fall. He looked behind him, screaming, "Star! Star, help!"

But there was no signs of anyone else in the dark passage, Marco having to try and fend off Toffee alone. He looked around for anything that could be of use, his eyes landing on one of the flaming torches hanging on the walls, waiting for his chance to grab one, knowing he would only get one shot. As soon as he was in close reach of it, he snatched it off the wall, preparing to fling it at the monster to force him to release his grip.

What the boy failed to account for, however, was that Toffee had sensed the boy's movement out of the corner of his eye, his tail flinging out and snapping against Marco's hand, making the boy cry out in pain and drop the burning torch. "Did you really think that would work, Marco?" Toffee hissed, as he forcefully pulled the boy in front of him, making sure to keep him away from the rest of the torches on their path, as the two descended the last set of steps.

"You'll never get away with this, Toffee!" Marco screamed, defiantly, still grunting as he tried to pull his way free from the lizard. "Star and the others are right behind us. They're gonna stop you."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," Toffee replied, sounding not the least bit concerned. "By the time they catch up, you and I will be long gone."

Suddenly, as if on cue, a voice could be heard in the distance. "Marco!" came Star's desperate, muted plea to the boy as it echoed around the narrow hallway. Marco turned to see lights in the distance, the group of monsters now holding flaming torches running at them full force, with Star in the lead. "Guys, over here!" Marco screamed to them.

Toffee glared daggers at the group, before shoving his struggling captive into the next room, a large bunker-like structure, Marco falling hard to his knees. As Toffee stepped into the room, as well, he hit a switch next to him and a layer of crystal-like glass lowered from the door frame, quickly sealing the exit closed, the lizard ripping out the device a second later to prevent it from being used again. Marco, seeing his only chance of escape about to be lost, jumped to his feet and tried to reach the door in time, but he was too late as the glass finally slid into place with a loud _clunk_. "No!" he cried in panic.

Ironically, Star and the others reached the now-blocked entrance at the exact same time, the blond putting a hand against the glass, and Marco doing the same, only a thin layer of crystal preventing the two from touching. For a moment, the two looked into each others frightened eyes, Star's muffled voice calling out to him, "Marco!"

"Star!" Marco screamed back.

"Hang on, I'm gonna get you out!" she replied.

"Okay. I know you wi- AHH!" Marco was taken by surprise, as Toffee grabbed the boy by his hood and pulled him uncomfortably away from the glass door.

"Marco!" Star screamed in terror.

"Let go!" Marco cried, trying and failing to pull his hood out of the lizard's claws, Toffee just watching in amusement at the boy's pitiful attempts of escape. Finally, Toffee pulled back on the hood as hard as he could, choking Marco and causing him to lose his footing. The boy had no way to stop himself as he fell backwards, causing him to bang his head on the hard, stone floor, screaming in pain.

Star, seeing Marco hurt, panicked, banging her fists hard against the glass, ignoring the throbbing pain that resulted each time her clenched hands made contact with the surprisingly strong crystal. Several of the monsters joined her, as they all tried to shatter the glass, yelling to the boy the whole time. "Marcooooo! Marco, no! Marcoooo!"

The crystal never gave, however, Star quickly realizing how futile the act was and instantly jumped to "plan b" for breaking the stubborn glass. "Everyone stand back!" Star screamed in warning, holding her wand out in front of her, just inches from the glass.

Jackie seeing this, quickly grabbed Janna's arm, pulling her back away from the door, saying to the monsters, "Do what she says?!" The monsters, realizing what the girl was about to do, all scrambled backwards, trying to give the girl a wide berth. Star began unleashing a flurry of spells on the dreaded crystal, the sound of explosions ringing through the enclosed space and the monsters having to cover their eyes from the bright flashing lights, smoke, dust, and debris flying everywhere, coating the startled monsters and the two girls, who tried feebly to shield their faces from the viscous onslaught.

Marco, clutching his aching head, heard the tell-tale sounds of explosions ringing through his ears, looking up enough to see Star blasting away at the glass that blocked her path, and felt a surge of hope. But that hope was shattered, however, as somehow through Star's bombardment the glass held, every spell not even fracturing the tough crystal, the whole thing only glowing with some kind of energy, as if it was somehow absorbing every hit taken. Marco's eyes widened in terror as he realized that Star and the others wouldn't reach him in time.

Toffee just stood over him with a gloating look, saying in an almost taunting tone, "See that Marco, your dear princess can't reach you. Oh whatever will you do, now?"

Marco said nothing, just staring at the glass, petrified, his head still pounding slightly. What could he do now? Toffee had caught him and without an escape route, he didn't stand a chance of getting away on his own. Marco gulped, swallowing back the lump that was forming in his throat. He was trapped.

"I told you before, didn't I, Marco?" Toffee continued, the hooded boy finally drawing his attention away from his would-be rescuers and onto the monster, who was giving him a killer look that sent shivers down his spine. Marco tried to back away from the chilling monster, the lizard's face covered by shadows, making his narrowed eyes somehow glow a sickly green, as he slowly stalked closer, with a murderous purpose. "No one can save you from what I have planned."

Then, out of nowhere, a sword fell between the two, sticking into the ground just inches from where Toffee's foot was. The two looked up to see Buff Frog dropping in from the ceiling, another sword in hand, swinging down at the dreaded lizard. Toffee managed to dodge the attack at the last minute, but was unsuccessful in stopping the sword from cutting off his right arm. As the severed appendage fell to the floor, it disintegrated into dust until there was nothing left of it.

Toffee stared daggers at the frog monster, clutching at the stump that was left of his arm with his good claw, as his opponent landed gracefully between Marco and Toffee, the Mewman boy looking up at his monster father in shock and relief. "Stay away from my son!" Buff Frog growled angrily at Toffee, holding his sword threateningly in front of him.

"Dad!" Marco screamed, his voice chocked with emotion.

"Buff Frog," Toffee greeted coldly, his eyes narrowing to slits as his limb began to regrow itself. "I had a feeling I would see you again. Though I must say I am surprised to see you here of all places."

"I could say same for you," Buff Frog spat back. "You were not supposed to know about hidden tunnels."

"Well, what can I say, I guess I'm full of many surprises," Toffee said, intensely.

Buff Frog broke off his stare for a moment, as he yelled over his shoulder to his son, "Marco, run!"

Toffee began to chuckle, as his arm finally finished regrowing, clenching it into a tight fist. "Run?" he scoffed, giving the monster a toothy grin. "Run where? There's nowhere for him to go." Toffee's tone dropped to a terrifying whisper. "Or you for that matter."

Buff Frog charged the lizard, swinging a sword right at his head, but Toffee saw it coming, fluidly ducking under the blade at the last second, before sending a claw into Buff Frog's shoulder, trying to force him to release his hold on the sword. The frog screamed as pain shot up his arm, but kept a firm grip on his weapon, trying once again to swipe at the hated monster, but Toffee took a step back avoiding the sharp blade.

"Buff Frog, here!" Marco screamed, throwing the other sword to the monster, Buff Frog catching it expertly, shooting his son a loving smile. "Thank you, my boy."

He turned back to the lizard with a grim scowl. "Now I will make you pay for all bad you have done," he said in a hard tone.

"You can try," Toffee responded, smugly. Buff Frog brought both swords down on the lizard, Toffee catching them with his bare claws. "But once I dispose of you, I'm going after your precious son."

"No you will not!" Buff Frog spat in a strained tone.

"Really, still as blind as ever, Buff Frog," Toffee chuckled, as his tail slowly wrapped around the frog's leg. Buff Frog was thrown off balance, as his leg was yanked out from underneath him, Toffee reaching out and slamming him hard into the ground.

"Buff Frog!" Marco screamed in worry, about to run over to check on his dad, but Buff Frog held up an arm, as he painfully rose to his feet.

"No Marco, stay back!" the amphibian yelled, panting heavily. "I will deal with this." Toffee just smiled as he waited for his opponents next move.

...

Star refused to let up her assault, ignoring the crushing doubt she felt in her chest, as she shot spell after spell at the stubborn see-through wall, trying everything she could to break through the impenetrable barrier. Jackie and the others struggled to stay upright, as blasts of hot air flowed endlessly around them, but even they could see just how useless the princess' attacks were through the blinding dust cloud that had settled in the hall after every failed strike. Jackie risked walking closer to the girl, fighting back the powerful energy that flowed around her, using her arm to shield her eyes from the flying debris, as she called out to her friend, "Star! Star stop! It's not working!"

"Yeah, it's no use Star, it's not gonna break!" Janna added via shout.

"No!" Star screamed back, sounding desperate and tired. "It's going to work! I just need more power!"

Somehow, through all the smoke and dust, Jackie was able to spot Buff Frog fighting off the lizard and she felt hope in her chest. "Star! Star I think Buff Frog's in there!" The monsters all shared a look with one another at that news. "He's protecting Marco! Star, did you hear me?"

Star did hear her and she had, in fact, seen that for herself. But she knew it couldn't last. Buff Frog couldn't beat Toffee, she wasn't sure anyone could. Eventually, Buff Frog would tire and then Toffee would be free to go after Marco once again. So she had to get in there and save him, before that happened. She took a deep breath, gathering as much wavering energy as she could, as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Cotton Candy Devastation Blast!"

…

The sound of the explosion rang through the bunker, as the fight between Toffee and Buff Frog continued, the frog doing everything he could to gain an upper hand on his cruel opponent. Buff Frog leapt over the monster, landing behind him and thrusting his blade right at the lizard's unguarded back. Toffee's tail reacted at just the right moment, managing to block the stab at the last second, but getting itself cut off in the process. The lizard pivoted on his heels, smashing a fist into his opponent, causing Buff Frog to stumble back.

Buff Frog tried to regain control of the fight as he sent several well timed slashes the monster's way, but Toffee just kept coming, weaving around the attacks and ignoring the ones that landed, knowing they would just repair themselves in a few seconds anyway. Meanwhile, Buff Frog was taking far more damage the longer the fight went on, Toffee's sharp claws managing to catch him at odd places, as more and more scratches appeared on his body. And to make matters worse, Buff Frog was quickly running out of room as he tried to ward his fearless opponent off. If something didn't change soon, Buff Frog might end up backing himself into a corner where he would be at the monster's mercy.

In a last ditch effort, Buff Frog tried, once again, to thrust his blade at the lizard, but he was thwarted as Toffee blocked the desperate blow, knocking the sword out of the frog's hand and sending it tumbling behind them.

Buff Frog ignored the almost unbearable pain that was surging in his arm, a claw mark running all the way up the throbbing appendage, trying to remain focused on finishing off the monster. He gritted his teeth, raising his good arm, preparing to make another stab at the monster with his last remaining sword, but Toffee moved first, his claws digging deep into the frog's muscular chest. Buff Frog was finally pushed back, colliding with the wall behind him painfully, before falling to the floor, unmoving.

Marco seeing his dad defeated, felt tears rising up in his eyes, his mouth gaping open. He had to do something. That was all he could think, as his body began to move on its own, slowly inching closer to the two. He didn't know what yet, but he couldn't just sit there and watch as Toffee killed the only family he had left. He had to find someway to help him. He just _had_ to.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash in Marco's eyes, the boy freezing, caught completely off guard, as he rubbed at his eyes, blindly. Once Marco's vision cleared, the boy spotted the source of the uncomfortable light: Toffee's ring. For a few seconds, Marco was caught in its hypnotizing glow, staring wide eyed at the embedded gem that seemed to be shimmering with some kind of magical energy. And that was when it hit him, the answer to all his problems, the truth so simple and plain that Marco couldn't believe he hadn't realized it before. Marco crept forward slowly, keeping a close eye on Toffee, picking the discarded sword off the floor.

…

Finally, it seemed Star had spent the last of her energy, as she collapsed to the ground, exhausted, watching in despair as Toffee stood over the now defeated Buff Frog. She panted as she tried to raise up her wand shakily for another attack. "R-Rain...b-bow B-Blast," she managed to gasp out, a small puddle of multicolored goop pouring out of her wand and staining the ground bellow it.

"No," Star cried in despair, clutching her head in her hands. "It's no use! I can't break it!"

Jackie walked over and put a hand on her friend's shoulder, looking sad. Behind them the monsters looked down, feeling equally disheartened, knowing that the super-powered princess had been their last hope to saving Marco. Janna, however, was staring out the glass with pain-filled eyes. "It's my fault, Jackie!" Star continued, her voice wrenched with sobs, as tears spilled from her eyes. "It's all my fault! Marco's going to die because of me, all because I couldn't keep my promise!"

Jackie opened her mouth, to say something comforting, but she was cut off as Janna spoke up from behind her. "Uhh, guys. You might want to look at this."

Star and the others followed her gaze into the bunker, all of their mouths dropping open in disbelief at the sight of Marco slowly sneaking up on Toffee, a sword in his hand.

"Marco, no don't," Star muttered in terror.

…

"Well that was utterly pathetic," Toffee said to his defeated opponent, who was trying to force himself to stand, grunting, his scar covered body aching as he tried to gain enough strength to continue fighting. "Did you really think you could win? How stupid of you." Buff Frog just sent hate-filled daggers at the lizard, as he chuckled cruelly. "Goodbye Buff Frog and don't worry I'll take good care of Marco for you."

Suddenly, Toffee saw something moving out of the corner of his eye, his tail whipping out and wrapping around the hooded boy's hands, preventing him from swinging the sword any farther, Marco coming dangerously close to running him through.

"What's this?" Toffee asked amused, watching as they boy tried to pull his grip free. "Trying to stab me in the back? Not very heroic of you, Marco." He flung the boy to the floor beside him. "Not to mention intelligent."

Toffee reached down to pick the boy up by his hood, planning on killing him right there in front of Buff Frog just to make him suffer. But Toffee was caught off guard as the boy suddenly jolted up, swinging the sword toward the lizard with a large slash, the lizard not even having time to dodge out of the way.

The room went dead quiet as Marco's sword made contact with Toffee's outstretched hand. It was a clean cut all the way through, the two watching in silence as the lizard limb clattered to the floor, all of it disintegrating save for his middle finger, the green ring still glowing around it. For a few seconds, Toffee was frozen in shock, looking at his most prized and well-guarded object laying half-haphazardly on the floor. He couldn't believe he had made such an obvious mistake. He had been so distracted at the prospect of beating his opponent that he had allowed himself to expose his left hand and therefore the ring, permitting it to be severed by Marco of all people. Even Buff Frog was in disbelief, staring open-mouthed at Marco, a look of determination the likes of which Buff Frog had never seen shining in his boy's eyes.

Marco, however, wasn't in shock, as he quickly swiped the finger off the floor and tossed it in Buff Frog's direction, yelling, "Buff Frog take the ring, without it Toffee can't regenerate." The boy directed his attention back to the blank-faced lizard as he rose to his feet. "Isn't that right, Master Toffee?"

The lizard turned to him with a blood-curdling glare, not even bothering to hide his fury from his normally melancholy face, but he spoke in the same controlled tone as always. "So someone finally figured it out," he said, taking a step closer, Marco holding the sword weakly out in front of him in defense. "Tell me, Marco. How did you know?"

Though Marco was shaking, he answered in the strongest tone he could, saying, "Easy, Master Toffee. I've never seen you with that ring off, so it's obviously very important to you, but normally you treat it just like any other ring. So I thought it was kinda weird that the whole time you were fighting Buff Frog, you were keeping it hidden, only using your right hand to fight, even though I know you're left handed. That's when I realized that that ring must somehow give you the power to regenerate, because how else could you recover from so many hits without using magic."

The room went silent again as Toffee just glared at the boy, Marco feeling his heart pounding away in his chest. Finally, the lizard laughed, a short, disturbing chuckle that somehow frightened Marco more than his most evil of death glares. Suddenly, Toffee's claw shot out, Marco caught off guard, as he tried to block the attack with his sword, but was easily overpowered by the experienced Toffee, as his claw wrapped around the boy's throat. Marco chocked in the lizard's grasp, dropping the sword as he tried to pry the lizard's claws away from his neck. "I always knew that eventually someone would discover the truth of my 'miraculous' healing abilities. I just never would have guessed that it would be you," Toffee said, his voice a cruel hiss, slowly tightening his grip on the boy's windpipes, Marco coughing in response.

The boy was becoming frantic as he fearfully tried to take short spurts of breath but was unable to, the edges of his vision going black as he slowly suffocated. Buff Frog seeing his son in distress, felt a deep primal fear overcome him, somehow finding the strength to stand, reaching a hand out to them uselessly, as he furiously shouted at the monster, a low growl rising from his throat, "No, Toffee let him go!"

"Gladly," Toffee replied calmly, somehow at ease despite the intense, life-threatening situation that was unfolding around him. "All you have to do is return to me what's mine. And then I will give you what's yours." The lizards voice was just dripping with superiority, clearing enjoying making the both of them suffer.

"No," Marco gasped out, his voice a raspy wheeze. "Don't do it, Buff Frog. He'll just kill me anyways."

"Quiet," Toffee hissed, his eyes narrowing, as he squeezed tighter, causing Buff Frog to flinch, Marco squirming more in his grip, as he struggled to take in a breath. "That's better. Now then, do we have a deal, Buff Frog?"

Buff Frog tried not to show the overwhelming terror he felt as he watched his only son being strangled in his arch rival's grip, keeping a blank stare on his face. "How do I know you will release him once I give you finger?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Well, I have to let go now, don't I?" Toffee replied, spitefully. "After all, thanks to your son I only have one good hand." The lizard held up the stump that was once his left hand, shooting a glare at Marco, who's eyes were beginning to glaze over, as he slowly lost consciousness.

Buff Frog said nothing, just looking at his son with unsuppressed sadness, knowing he couldn't allow this to go on any longer, unable to watch as the color continued to drain from Marco's normally vibrant eyes, unable to hear him gasp anymore for the breath that Toffee was stealing from his oxygen-deprived lungs, the pain and hurt it was causing the monster almost too much for him to take. He had to give the lizard what he wanted, even if that meant the end for him. It didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was saving Marco.

Marco tried to shout something to Buff Frog, warning him not to trust the deceitful lizard, but he was unable to produce anything even remotely close to sounding like speech, the end product sounding more like a garbled squeak than words. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep his eyes open, the world fading into black, the boy's brain becoming fuzzy and dim, Marco struggling to form thought, as his oxygen-deprived mind screamed out for more air. If something didn't change soon, Marco was going to lose consciousness.

Toffee felt a giddy joy as he felt the boy's resistance continue to weaken, his heartbeat slowing as the last of his strength died out from beneath Toffee's fingertips. _This was it_ , the lizard thought to himself, as he watched Buff Frog coming closer. The moment he had been waiting for over fourteen years. At last he could dispose of both his hated right-hand monster and the last of the Diaz's in one fell swoop and all right in front of the monsters and the princess. Toffee held back a smile. How utterly satisfying.

…

Star seeing the boy being slowly strangled by Toffee, felt a panic seize her again, wanting to reach out and help him, but was powerless to do so. "Marco, no! Marco!" Her voice was a broken whimper, as he eyes flooded with tears anew, not sure if she could bear watching Toffee kill the most important person in her life.

The girl began to weep on the floor, feeling hopeless, as she clutched her wand tightly to her chest. "Please?" she begged to the magical object. "Please, help me." She sobbed once, trying to clear her tight throat enough to speak, squeezing her eyes shut, as tears continued to pour out of them. "Give me the strength to save him... just this once."

And in that instant, Star's cheek marks turned bright white, her wand doing the same. Star felt a strength begin to fuel her, a deep, powerful energy unlike anything she had ever experienced slowly rising up inside her, making he whole body feel hot. Her thoughts ceased, everything vanishing around her, until all that she could feel or know was the magic that was burning like fire though her blood stream.

Jackie, Janna, and the monsters were confused as the air around them seemed to be electrified somehow, all of them feeling some kind of wave of energy flowing off of the princess, as she was lit up by the glow of her wand. Jackie removed her hand from the princess' shoulder, her and the others taking slow, cautious steps back. Star's eyes opened, both of them glowing pure white like her wand, a shockwave sent out by the action, knocking the monsters and girls to the ground, the glass barrier in front of her vibrating but refusing to break.

Without even realizing what she was doing, Star held the wand out at the barrier, a beam of pure light streaming from her wand and hitting the glass full-force. There was a loud cracking sound, as the glass finally shattered, Buff Frog and Toffee turning in the direction of the ear-splitting noise. With the glass now gone, Star easily stepped through, shooting off another beam, this one directed at Toffee. Buff Frog ducked to avoid the hit and Toffee was forced to let go of Marco in order to keep himself from being zapped by the powerful beam. The hooded boy collapsed to the ground, coughing and hacking as he tried to regain enough oxygen to breath normally again. He looked up at his rescuer through his dimming vision, his heart skipping a beat. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the sight of Star standing proudly and assuredly in the doorway, her body shimmering with unparallelled beauty and power.

Behind the princess, the glass barrier began sealing back, the damage reversing itself as the crystal-like substance became twice as powerful as before. Janna, seeing this, quickly grabbed the still-recovering Jackie by the hand, before pulling her through the closing gap at the last second. For a few seconds, the two just watched as Star fired another a light infused lasso at the monster, wrapping around the monster's waist and flinging him toward the nearest wall, trying to separate him from Marco as much as possible. Toffee skidded to a stop, managing to keep himself from slamming into the stone wall. But Star was far from done, as the magical princess took off like a flash, her still supercharged body making her practically glide across the floor, as she came straight for the hated monster, Toffee dodging out of the way at the last second, the spell Star released from her wand, destroying the wall behind him, the last of Star's overpowered state wearing off as her cheek marks and eyes returned to their normal form.

Janna, seeing this, turned to her skater friend, saying, "You grab Marco. I'll help Star."

"Right," Jackie said with a curt nod, before the two took off together, only separating to help with their equivalent tasks, Janna running over to help Star and Jackie using her skateboard to get to the boy faster. Buff Frog was already there at the boy's side, holding his hand and he turned to the girl with a fearful look. "I do not feel pulse."

Once Jackie reached the two, she quickly knelt down to examine the boy. He didn't look too hurt, but the skater could see red marks on his neck from where Toffee had been squeezing. She zipped open his hoodie, putting an ear to his chest as she tried to listen for a heartbeat or breathing. For a few tense seconds, there was nothing, Jackie concerned that she had reached him too late, but then she felt the boy's chest rise and fall, as he returned to his steady intake of breath and she sighed in relief. "He's still breathing," she said to the monster assuredly and Buff Frog also released the breath he had been holding in.

"Thank corn," he muttered.

From the other side of the room, Janna, now full monster form caught up with the two combatants, throwing a loose punch at the monster, but unlike the rest of the monsters, Toffee was far more experienced in a fight, moving out of the way, and grabbing onto her wrist, throwing her forward and right into Star, causing the two to collide.

But the two recovered quickly, jumping up, before going after the monster again, this time moving as one. Toffee was able to stop them somehow, even with the single hand, using his tail as his biggest advantage, wrapping it around Star's wrist to force her to fire at nothing, while blocking another punch from the half-monster girl.

Star, her hands still trapped, re-aimed her wand, firing a spell at the monster's head, Toffee ducking underneath it, before using his tail to fling her out of the way, the girl skidding across the hard ground. Janna, seeing the lizard momentarily distracted, swept Toffee's legs out from underneath him, but the lizard caught himself before hitting the floor. He was up in half a second, Janna having no time to even counter, as the lizard's sharp claw connected with her shoulder, the girl crying out in pain, before the lizard used his own force to throw her back, the girl stumbling but managing to keep her footing.

Star fired a series of crystal heart daggers at her fearsome opponent, Toffee managing to dodge around all of them, his movements almost too fluid and quick for the inexperienced princess to keep up with, as he slithered around the battlefield. Though her spell did manage to keep him distracted long enough for Janna to catch up to him. She threw another punch toward the lizard, this one managing to connect, as the lizard was sent flying back, where he once again crashed hard into the wall, cracking the area where he hit. He growled in frustration and perhaps pain but he was far from down, as Star shouted, "Supersonic Leech Bombs!" the lizard pushing himself off the wall as he dodged the attack, a series of explosions going off behind him, but none managing to hit him, as he merely dusted off his suit, giving the two girls a superior look.

Star groaned in frustration, unsure how her and Janna together still weren't enough to beat the injured monster. Even without his regeneration powers he was still practically unbeatable.

In truth though, it was taking Toffee everything he had to hold the two girls at bay. Toffee couldn't recall the last time he had had to actually give his all in a fight, clearly growing too use to the power of regeneration the ring granted him. And this wasn't a fight with a pair of ordinary Mewman. No, this was him versus the wand-wielding Princess of Mewni and a cursed Impure, who's strength objectively rivaled that of the monsters. It was time he tipped the odds back into his favor. After all, he did have more than a few tricks still up his sleeve.

He smiled another one of his false smiles, as he said to Star, "What's the matter, little princess? You seem upset about something." His voice just dripped with sarcasm, making Star burn with hatred. "Don't tell me you're still mad about Marco?"

Star eyes drifted over to where Buff Frog and Jackie were, Marco still laying unconscious in their arms and she felt her anger burn anew. She couldn't lose. Not to Toffee. Not after everything he had put her poor Marco through. She would beat him even if it was the last thing she would ever do. She glared daggers at the lizard, clenching her wand even tighter, as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'm gonna make you pay for hurting him, Toffee!" She held her wand right at the suit-wearing lizard. "Mega Narwhal Blast!"

Jackie was keeping a watchful eye on the fight as it continued, concerned as Star seemed to grow angrier and angrier as the fight went on, the skater fearful for her friend, hoping that she was able to keep her head through this troubling ordeal. "They need help," Jackie observed and Buff Frog nodded in agreement.

"Dah. But I too weak to fight and must guard Marco. Who else can help us?" the frog monster asked, seriously. Jackie's eyes slowly drifted over to the sealed crystal barrier, the other monsters watching the events unfold from the other side. Though it seemed getting through the barrier itself was impossible, on further inspection Jackie could see small cracks and holes in the foundation around it from where Star had senselessly blasted at the area.

Jackie rose to her feet, saying to the monster, "I have an idea. But I'm gonna need your help."

"You have it, friend of Marco," Buff Frog replied, rising as well, holding Marco gently in his beefed up arms.

"Great, then let's go," Jackie responded, heading off toward the sealed barrier, Buff Frog right on her heels. "Oh and just Jackie is fine," she added, shooting the amphibian a smile from over her shoulder.

Meanwhile, from Star and Janna's end, the two refused to let up their assault, working as one to try and take the lizard down, Star throwing spell after spell his way, forcing him to go on the defensive, while the half-monster girl had ample time to go on the offense, hitting him at off times with a super powered punch or kick. But the lizard was far from just standing there and taking it, managing to slash and claw at the creepy girl (almost always with success) every time she went in for an attack and with the girl's arm injured from Toffee's first attack, she couldn't go into her bat form to dodge, unable to fly with a hurt wing.

But that didn't hold Janna back, as she went in for another strike after Star had tried to unsuccessfully freeze the lizard in place, running at the lizard with a raised fist. Toffee was able to keep the punch from connecting, blocking the fist with an opened palm, ignoring the pain that surged from stopping what felt like a brick wall. He tightened his grip on her, as he used her momentum against her, yanking her easily forward before releasing her clenched fist and instead wrapping his thick talons around the back of her neck, slamming her into the ground beneath him. "Janna!" Star screamed, seeing her friend in trouble. The girl struggled as she tried to fight the lizard off of her but Toffee had her properly pinned. Toffee soaked in the look of fear on the girl's face, before pulling the Impure up and then throwing her toward the princess.

Janna landed next to Star, with a hurt grunt, the princess screaming in fear, "Janna! Janna are you okay?!"

"Typical Butterfly," Toffee said in a condescending tone, adjusting the cuff on his hurt arm. "Hiding behind her wand while her subjects throw themselves in harm's way."

Star gritted her teeth at the lizard, keeping her wand aimed and ready. "Coming from the monster who hid behind the power of some ring and used Marco as a hostage," she hissed back.

"I suppose you're right," the businesslike monster responded, his face blank. But it switched to a toothy grin as he added, "I guess you and I are exactly the same."

Star felt red hot anger burning in her chest at the look the monster was giving her, as she screamed, "I am nothing like you!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Toffee threw a knife that he had kept concealed in his sleeve at the girl, Star barely having time to react as she blasted it out of the sky, but by the time she had, the lizard had closed the distance between them, slashing at the girl's arm, forcing her to drop her wand. Star cried out in pain, clutching the throbbing limb tightly, Toffee, kneeing the girl hard in the chest, before slamming her into the wall, pinning her there with his one good arm. Toffee smirked, as he suspended her wand in the air by his tail, before flinging it carelessly away, Star cringing as the object clattered to the floor. "You were right princess, we are nothing alike," he said, his face just inches from hers, the girl struggling as she tried to break free. His tail picked up the discarded knife pressing the blade against her throat. "I would have seen that attack coming."

…

There was a loud _clunk_ as Jackie wedged her skateboard into the crack in the wall, pushing down on it for a second to make sure it was in properly. "There," she said, satisfied it was in right. She turned to Buff Frog explaining to the frog monster, "If we pull on this we can loosen the wall enough to create an opening for the others to get through."

"Good plan," Buff Frog complimented, laying Marco down, before going over to help the girl. The two braced themselves, gathering their strength, as the frog awaited Jackie's command to go. "You on the other side," she called to the others. "Try pushing against the wall as hard as you can when I say go."

"Right!" came the muffled reply from the other side. "Ready..." she said, squeezing her board as tightly as she could, hoping that it didn't break before they brought the wall down. "Go!" She cried, the two pulling back against the board as hard as they could, straining from the overwhelming effort. There was a loud bang as the monster must have all hit the wall at the same time.

"Pull!" Jackie screamed again, louder than before, but the board refused to give an inch.

"PULL!" she repeated, this time feeling a small give from the board, seeing small chucks of rock and stone crumbling to the floor.

"We're doing it, guys! We're doing it!" she said, trying to encourage the others to give their all. "Just a little bit more!"

…

"Stay where you are, Impure," Toffee warned Janna, who was giving him a death glare. "Or I will kill your princess." He flicked the knife slightly, a small cut appearing on Star's neck. "Now be a good little monster and go bring me my finger."

Star just continued to glare daggers at the suit-wearing lizard, quickly looking down at her arm to examine the damage, a thick cut running all the way across it, useless for stopping the monster from what he was about to do. "This isn't over, Toffee. I will beat you," she said, viciously, trying to stay strong.

"Oh I highly doubt that," Toffee responded. "You couldn't beat me even with your wand's strength. So how do you propose on beating me now."

Before Star could respond, there was a loud crash behind the two, Toffee turning to see the wall around the crystal barrier collapsing, Jackie and Buff Frog covering their faces from the dust and debris that fell around them. "No!" Toffee hissed, infuriated with the others constant meddling.

Star, taking advantage of the distraction, finally managed to get her feet into a good position, as she pushed the lizard away with all her might, forcing him back while freeing herself from the trapped position against he wall. She didn't hesitate as she ducked under his slashing knife, sliding across the floor, before kicking at the back of his leg, the lizard stumbling but catching himself before he could fall. He rose to his feet, turning on his heels to stab at the girl and Star rolled out of the way.

Suddenly, Janna rejoined the fight, tackling Toffee with a yell, as she finally managed to bring the lizard to the ground, making him drop his knife. Toffee lashed out, Janna having to jump off of the lizard to avoid getting cut. Toffee rose to see Star running for her wand and he rushed at her, Janna screaming the princess a warning, "Star, head's up!"

Star was about to turn, when something grabbed onto her thick blond hair, pulling her back with all their might, pain shooting through her scalp causing her to scream. Star managed to turn last minute, landing on her knees, feeling them both instantly bruise and pain shooting up her hurt arm from catching herself, but ignored the pain as she jumped out of the way, as Toffee smashed a foot into the ground, right where Star had been.

Toffee looked over to see the monsters were fast on their way, screaming a loud battle cry, Buff Frog leading the assault, the amphibian trusting Jackie and a few of the other monsters to stay with and protect Marco. The calculating monster quickly realized that now was the time to go, pulling out his pair of dimensional scissors. Star saw this and immediately threw herself at the monster, slamming into him with all her might. The lizard faltered, Star grabbing the scissors out of his loosened grip, before immediately pulling away to avoid getting hit again.

After that, it was Janna's turn to interfere, a look of anger on her face as she punched him with every ounce of her strength she had, holding nothing back on the hated lizard. Toffee's body crumpled under the force of the attack as he was sent crashing into the wall, creating a giant crater in its side.

Toffee rose painfully to his feet, positive that that last attack had broken several bones, growling in unsuppressed fury, watching as the monsters caught up with the two girls, quickly surrounding the two. He considered his options all of them becoming quickly limited, as he knew he now had both the two powerful girls and the monsters to deal with. And with his body in the condition it was, he doubted he could continue fighting, having long since reached his limit. It was time to cut his loses. As much as he wanted to reclaim his finger, it was unlikely that now would be the best time to do so.

"Well, princess," Toffee said, raising his claws in surrender, drawing everyone's weary eyes onto him. "I know when to give in. It seems you've managed to best me." Everyone shared looks with one another, none of them really believing him.

"For real?" Star said, suspiciously.

"Of course. I'm not an idiot I know when I've been beaten."

"Then, I guess, step closer," Star said, still slightly unsure how to deal with this situation now.

"Slowly," Janna said.

Toffee began taking slow, cautious steps closer, keeping his hands raised, limping slightly on his hurt foot. Once he was close enough, Bearicorn and Potato Baby restrained him. "So what happens now," he asked, keeping his focus on Star.

"Now you pay for everything you've done," Star spat back, giving him a narrowed glare.

"For all the lives you've taken!" Buff Frog growled.

"For all the lies you've told!" Lobster Claws added.

"And for hurting Marco in more ways than I care to count!" Star said, her body shaking with anger.

"Of course," Toffee said submissively, lowering his head in defeat. But Janna' impeccable vision saw that behind his back he was slowly drawing something from his pocket, a small glowing sphere, one that Janna immediately recognized.

"Look out! He's got a magic bomb!" she cried in warning.

"Perceptive," the lizard whispered.

"What?!" Star asked, but there was no time for a response from her creepy friend as the lizard dropped the object to the floor, the thing clicking before it began flashing different colors, indicating it had become active.

Everyone gasped. "Move!" Buff Frog commanded in panic, everyone scrambling to get out of the bomb's destruction range, Bearicorn and Potato Baby releasing their hold on Toffee in the process, the lizard smiling before slithering away as quickly as he could with his limp, the others too distracted to go after him. He reached a far wall, pressing one of the loose stones, a secret passage opening up for him. He took one last look back at the doomed idiots before escaping into the underground catacombs.

Star couldn't help but beat herself up for not seeing the bomb as she ran with the others. Not that there was much point now, in a matter of seconds it would detonate and the whole area would be reduced to a pile of ash, she only hoped they could get clear of it in time. If only she still had her wand, then she could make a shield around everyone to protect them from the blast. Now all she had was...

Star looked down, staring at the pair of dimensional scissors still in her hands, an idea forming in her head. She immediately skidded to a stop, running back over to the bomb, much to the confusion and panic of Janna, who tried to shout the girl a warning. "Star!"

This, of course, caused the monsters to all turn, before gasping in surprise and fear for the girl who had clearly just lost her mind, Buff Frog actually trying to run over to the girl in an attempt to stop her. Star ignored the concerned screams around her as she reached the glowing bomb, which was switching between colors obsessively meaning it was probably close to going off. She picked it up, quickly cut open a portal, before tossing the bomb through. She didn't wait to listen for the explosion from the other side of the vortex, as she was already closing it back.

The whole room seemed to breath a sigh of relief knowing that the danger had passed, as the panic-induced moment ended. But Star didn't take a second to rest, as she looked over to the passage Toffee had escaped through, before saying to Buff Frog, "Come on. Toffee's getting away. If we go after him now then we might be able to stop him before he makes it out of the castle."

With that she started after the monster, but Buff Frog put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in place. She turned back to give him a raised eyebrow, but was surprised to see the seriousness on his face, the creepy look in his eyes sending chills down her spine. "No, princess," he said in a eerily calm voice. "We give chase. You and friends watch over Marco, he needs you more now." Buff Frog looked over to where his son lay, Jackie and now Janna still staying close by his side.

Star followed his gaze and felt her stomach clench at the sight of her friend hurt, but she said, "Jackie and Janna can watch him. I want to come," she insisted. "I want to make Toffee pay for hurting him like that."

Buff Frog shook his head firmly. "No. People do not need to see another Mewman killing monster in violence, whatever reason may be. You should stay here."

Star looked down, nodding, knowing Buff Frog was right. The amphibian, seeing the girl's sadness, patted her on the head as he added, "Believe me is for the best." His tone became extremely harsh as he said, "You do not need to see what is about to happen."

Star's eyes widened in surprise, looking up to question the amphibian, but he had already switched his attention to the other monsters, saying. "All monsters follow me! We going to take down Toffee!" They all yelled in agreement, rallying behind their fellow monster as they all ran quickly and efficiently into the tunnels, Star just watching them go in silent concern.

…

The going was slow and quiet as Toffee limped down the dark, damp tunnels under his castle, having to use the dust-covered walls as support as he continued on the memorized path. His body was aching with pain and his mind was seething with rage, all of which was directed toward Marco, that loathsome princess, and his treacherous lackeys. How could they reduce him to this? How hideous the idea of the most feared monster in all of Mewni to be forced to run from his own castle, a broken mess of his former self.

But this wasn't the end, oh no it was far from it. He would get his revenge. Once he regained some of his strength, he would gather a new army of monsters, a far more loyal and powerful group, and then he would return to destroy every single one of his old lackeys, if any of them managed to survive the parting gift he had left them with. And once Buff Frog and his pitiful little rebellion was crushed and he had reclaimed his finger from them he would set his sights on the Butterfly Kingdom.

Toffee smiled wickedly. Next time, things would be different. Next time he would hold nothing back on the villainous Mewmans. They would all going to regret the day they had ever set foot on his land. And not just them... no, he would punish anyone who dared to defy his vision. No one would be safe from his fury, no one would be spared from his wrath. He was going to burn Mewni to the ground.

The lizard froze, sensing a presence in the dark tunnels around him. He looked around and sure enough, he saw Buff Frog stalking closer, his eyes holding a sinister purpose behind them. Toffee showed no fear, glaring back at his long-time rival defiantly. For a moment, the two just stared at each other intensely, the air growing thick with blood lust, Toffee recognizing the killer intent behind the frog monster's eyes. "So, you actually managed to survive my final trick," Toffee observed needlessly. "And now what? You've come to finish me off, to kick me while I'm down." Buff Frog said nothing, his silence more telling than any response he could have given. Toffee scoffed. "Are you really going to kill me in this state, when I'm too weak to fight back. Not very heroic of you, Buff Frog. And here it thought you wanted to be a good role model for Marco."

"Never speak his name again," Buff Frog hissed in resentment, his yell echoing around the catacombs, making it sound more menacing. "I not pretend to be hero. I am what you made me into, what you made all of us into..." Toffee held back his fear as the rest of the monster's began appearing around them, surrounding Toffee with equally grim faces.

"Why do you look so surprised, Toffee?" Buff Frog asked with wrathful indignation, opening his arms wide. "This is what you wanted us to do, right? To kill without second thought."

Toffee just glared daggers, becoming more and more agitated as he looked around for some sort of escape route that didn't exist. "I suppose you just never thought we would be capable of turning on you," Buff Frog continued, his eyes narrowing with every syllable. "How stupid of you."

"You are all making a huge mistake, siding with the Mewmans," Toffee said savagely. "They will eventually turn on you all, just like they always do. And when that day comes, you will see that I was right all along."

"Perhaps, but you will not live to see that day," Buff Frog stated, brutally. The frog began stepping closer to the lizard, the others monsters doing the same and Toffee became frantic, his calm outer shell shattering, as he began shouting in a maddened state, "You fools can't defeat me. This isn't how this is supposed to happen. Only I decide how this all ends."

Buff Frog stopped, now standing directly in front of the feared lizard. "This is end," he whispered.

The only sounds that followed were the echoing screams of what was once the most feared monster leader in all of Mewni's history, his blood-curdling shrieks seeming to vibrate through every inch of the ancient castle, finally bringing Toffee's fearful and terrifying reign to a close.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed! And thus dies Toffee, by far the best villain in this show. Honestly, I'm kind of sad to see him go. I mean he was really fun to write, trying to get into his cruel, calculating head, but I felt like he needed to die here for the sake of the story. Otherwise the rest of it would just be Marco and the others fearfully awaiting his return. So anyways, what did you guys think of my big battle? Fight sequences are not my strong suit (just ask anyone who read my KH story XD) so I'm hoping it turned out okay. This one was absolutely amazing to write and there was so much going on at once my brain almost couldn't keep up with it all!**

 **Okay so next chapter will just be the general wrap up of season 1 and then we will be moving on to season 2! Woot, woot! *flails arms pointlessly in the air***

 **Once again, thank you all so much for supporting me through the first year of my story! I still can't believe it has been a year since I joined in on this amazing fandom! It really is kind of mind blowing to me! And I look forward to another year to come! Well I love you all so much and I will see you all in a few weeks!**

 **And now the reviews:**

 **Gamelover41592- Haha yeah, watch out Toffee! Viva el monster revolution! Haha, thanks for the comment!**

 **The Intelligent Otaku 556- Aww, well I am glad you liked the chapter! I tried to make sure Marco wasn't just a doormat for Toffee to beat up on, so it's good that you think I pulled it off well. Also totally see where your coming from there, oh wise one... *bows humbly* Hehe, but don't worry Marco is growing into a stronger person thanks to Star, so he won't just sit back and let Toffee control him or anyone else for that matter. Hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **Bedrock Armor- Thanks for being understanding! I really do try my best, but I do this in my spare time while also working a full-time job so I just don't have tons of time to work on it sometimes. Haha, yeah I can see that, but no I didn't want to interrupt my sweet Starco moment with suspense, though that would have been a good place to do it at... hmmm. Must resist urge to rewrite old chapter. Haha, just kidding ;) Anyways, thanks for the comment, hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **Nicholas Friar- Well, thank you! Yep this is the climax of the first season and you can bet that there will be a lot going on in this one!**

 **SugarQueen97- Thank you, thank you, thank you! Wow, I do really enjoy long comments... a little too much sometimes, haha! Okay here it goes. *ahem* Yeah, I'm glad there will be more of this one, too. And of course I take the criticism well, I mean there is a difference between people trying to help make me a better writer and just saying mean things to hurt my feelings, but I do appreciate it whenever I get tips that help me try to better my writing style. Also yeah, Marco won't use violence to solve _every_ problem, as I just don't see him being the big fighter in the series, as I did want to try something different from the fanfiction norm, but I will try my very hardest not to just make him useless and the damsel all the way through and be genuine help to his friends and family. **

**Star is a lot of fun to write and I always enjoy the sweet, tender moments between her and Marco. Honestly, I thought season 3 might have been the best one so far, but I do see where you are coming from. My biggest issue was that they never took time to let any emotions settle in too quick. Like when Star found out she wasn't a Butterfly, at first she seemed really upset but by next episode it was like it had never really happened, or at least her reaction just felt off to me. And I do miss the simpler days of season 1 and early season 2 where it was just Starco moments galore, instead of the love triangle our lovebirds keep falling into (not that I have anything against Jarco or Tomstar, it's just not my ship). Hopefully, season 4 will be able to focus more time to Starco cuteness.**

 **Glad you like both Jackie and Janna. Janna is the most fun to write, excluding Marco, so I always try to throw her in as much as I can. I also really adore Jackie in the show and wanted her to be a more prominent character in this story. But I didn't want her to just be a romantic obstacle for Star and Marco to get through to be together. I also really like her and Janna's interactions, I wanted them to be the closest, treating each other more like sisters than friends, which means the constant teasing. Though I did try to make Jackie the voice of reason to Janna's craziness, so she's kind of like the big sister of the group.**

 **Awww, thank you so much for your words on my Starco moments, it means a lot. I dedicated the most time in every chapter to their little interactions and I always try to make them as adorable as I can. Haha no I don't ever want to sexualize them like that as I just don't see it going that way. Like you said they are fourteen and I do try to write this like something you would see on Disney. I don't get why some people write them that way, but to each his own I guess. *shrugs* Also I was not that way at fourteen, either, and I'm in my twenties and still don't act that way! Hehe.**

 **Finally, no I do not try to brag on my story. I do love it and I think it's important for a writer to be proud of his or her work, but I'm not trying to build it up as this great masterpiece either. If anything I have to be careful not to harsh on my work as I do sometimes suffer from low self-esteem so I try my best to stay positive and enjoy what I have written! Thank you so much for all your kind words toward my story! I hope you like the new chapter!**

 **Meatpuppett- Thanks! I really enjoyed the ending scene, too. I knew that I had built up that scene big time from the last one so I had to make it fulfilling. Plus, Starco. How could I resist? ;) I will continue to do my best, as always! You just continue to be the awesome person you are!**

 **allen Vth- Well, not every problem will be solved that way. But most of them, yes. Trust me it will make more sense in part 2 when I get there. But thank you so much for the confidence, I will do my best to execute it well.**

 **Yeah, Star was pretty upset. I actually really liked the moment the two shared though afterwards, where they both kinda bonded over messing up... and Marco, of course. Speaking of which, Star better be careful, she kinda needs to be in good favor with his dad if she ever wants to date Marco. That's probably why she started acting more civilized toward him after that. XD**

 **And yeah, stupid Toffee, I think one of his hobbies between murdering the Mewman race is just going around and frightening little children! Haha thanks for the comment, hope you enjoy this long chapter!**

 **Monkey lover 911- Thank you! Don't worry Buff Frog is a tough monster he can take care of himself. Plus, he has four teens coming to his rescue so he should be just fine, right? Haha, hope you enjoy the new one!**

 **InfiniteClockWise- Thank you so much! And I will continue to do my best!**

 **Next Update: 2 weeks**


	19. An Unsettling Peace

Chapter 18: An Unsettling Peace

 **Hey everyone! ThDorkMagnet is here bringing to you all the finale of Season 1! YAY! *randomly throws glitter in the air* It's finally here! Also, as always, thank you all so much for every single favorite, follow, and review and for just being the best readers ever! Thanks for sticking with me through the first 17 chapters of this story of mine!You guys are awesome!**

 **Okay, so while this one may not be the longest chapter out of the bunch it is still packed down with content! Tensions are high and Starco is inevitable, so I will not keep you waiting any longer than I have to. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

General Skullnick was in a terribly foul mood as she arrived back at the Butterfly Castle, along with the rest of the knights, gazing around at the quiet city in suspicion. She had been told that the town had been in need of dire assistance, the relatively unguarded town rumored to have been invaded by monsters during the course of the night and yet Skullnick couldn't see signs of any threats or danger anywhere around the eerily calm village. Meaning she had been misinformed, just some rambled worries from a bunch of paranoid guards, claiming to have seen a bunch of explosions just outside of town. Word had spread far and fast to her outpost at the edge of the kingdom and with each story she heard (each more crazy than the last) the more concerned she had become. Until finally, she had suited up and her and her men had made their way to the inner kingdom, ready to fight off the monster scum who had managed to invade their home.

Instead she found her and her entourage of trained soldiers marching through the quiet town, undisturbed. It was late midday when they arrived, the people apparently far over their paranoia from the previous night. Meaning this whole thing had just been a giant waste of her time.

And yet, something still seemed off to Skullnick. She couldn't put her finger on it but things just didn't seem right in the village, the air thick with uncomfortable tension. And as she looked out at the gathered crowd, she finally pieced together the problem, as she noticed that the Mewmans seemed on edge about something, picking up on their little, anxious exchanges, a whispered conversations here and there, a nervous look shared when they thought no one was looking. Just small things. But they quickly added up, the general realizing that the relative peace in the town was merely an illusion, everyone still obviously shaken by whatever had happened overnight, making them all hesitant and unsure. Meaning it was now Skullnick's job to try and ease the population's troubled mind before things could be blown anymore out of proportion by the oftentimes skittish Mewmans. That meant she needed to get to the bottom of things there and as quickly as possible, too. Skullnick concerned that the smallest noise could set them off into a mob-like panic. And she knew just the place to start, looking up at the glorious and mighty towers of the Butterfly's palace as it drew closer into view.

Jak and Dex were already waiting as Skullnick and her men arrived to the front gates of the castle, the two sharing a nervous look before addressing their approaching superior officer. "General Skullnick!" they said as one, pounding fists into their chests in respect and bowing their heads slightly.

"Jak! Dex! What the heck has been going on out here, I've been getting distress calls nonstop for hours?!" she immediately growled, making the two of them instantly uncomfortable.

The two guards gulped, looking even more troubled than before as Dex said sheepishly, "Well, uh, funny story." Skullnick's eyes narrowed on the guard, making him hesitant to continue. "J-Jak tell her what happened," he said his voice a squeak, giving his partner a small push.

"Oh, okay then," Jak said, looking equally as tense, his voice a nervous stutter. "Umm, w-well the thing about that is... y-you see it was a weird set of circumstances that uhhh..."

Skullnick just sourly watched the two try to stumble their way around an explanation, quickly losing patience, while behind her all the other knights rolled their eyes. Until finally, she snapped, "Get to the point, you idiots!"

The two jumped at the raised tone, both of them shaking, neither wanting to continue, until finally Jak blurted out, "Toffee attacked last night!"

The knights all froze, trying to process the shocking news, even Skullnick stunned by the unexpected statement, Dex glaring at his partner. "What?!" she finally manged to say. "Toffee was here? He invaded Mewni?!"

"Technically yes," Dex said softly.

"How did they manage to get in under _your_ watch?!" Skullnick roared in a scolding voice.

"One of the barriers was down, he and the other monsters snuck in through that," Jak explained.

"But technically they never reached the city," Dex pointed out. "Thanks to Princess Star," he added.

"What?" Skullnick asked with concern. "Star was involved? _How could you let that happen_?!" Dex instantly covering his mouth unable to believe he had just said that out loud. He looked to Jak with a pleading look, the guard saying, "Uhh, no need to worry, General Skullnick. I assure you, she's fine. As our the rest of the guards. Everything's fine."

Skullnick let out a deep sigh, before growling in a slightly tired tone, "No everything is far from fine. Nothing about this is fine. This is the second time that slimy lizard has managed to sneak into the kingdom." She began pacing back and forth for a moment, deep in thought. "We need to stop him. We have to find a way to track him down somehow."

"Well actually, we don't really have to worry about that anymore," Jak spoke up.

Skullnick whipped around to face the startled guard. "What exactly does that mean? You know where he's at?!"

The two shared a look before Dex cleared his throat, hesitantly saying, "Well okay, you're probably never gonna believe this, but uh... Toffee's dead."

Everything went silent, the guards all blinking once as the information sunk in, Skullnick giving the two guards a baffled look, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Dead? What do you mean he's dead?! Why?! How?!" she questioned them, the normally level-headed general becoming quickly flustered.

"There was a rebellion within the monsters, they turned on the lizard and killed him," Jak softly explained.

"And how do you know this exactly?" Skullnick demanded, at a loss how two measly palace guards had come across such pivotal information.

The two guards shared a look, before giving their harsh leader a sheepish look, "Would you believe the monsters told us?"

"What?!" Skullnick roared, making the both of them jump.

"It's true, ma'am," Dex quickly said. "They all came here earlier asking to try and negotiate peace."

"HOW ABSURD?!" Skullnick's harsh voice boomed, the troll reaching a point of anger unlike anything she had felt in years. "Where are they at?!" she continued in deadly rumble, looking around the area needlessly. "Where are the cowards hiding?!"

She eventually looked back to the two frightened guards, able to tell from their faces that there was something they didn't want to tell her. "What?!" she asked sharply.

Jak ducked behind Dex, forcing him alone to face the angered general. "T-They're, umm, in the c-castle, ma'am," he said, giving her a timid smile.

"You _let them_ _INSIDE_?!" Skullnick shouted at the guard, getting right up in his face, somehow her voice managing to raise more and more as she screamed at the top of her lungs to Dex. "Are you completely brain dead?! Do you have any idea what you two have done?!"

"B-But, ma'am-" Dex timidly tried to defend himself.

"Shut up!" she yelled, the guard closing his mouth once again. She finally pulled away from her subordinate, but Dex was far from relaxed, visibly shaking as he tried not to meet her eye again. She turned to her group of knights, practically seething with rage, all of her men standing at immediate attention. "All of you go inside and secure the monsters," she commanded in a deep growl.

"Actually," Dex interrupted, gulping as the general's focused gaze narrowed onto him. But he forced himself to continue. "No one is permitted to lay a hand on the monsters."

"Under who's authority?" Skullnick asked angrily.

"Princess Star's," Jak explained.

Skullnick looked visibly shocked for a second, but she quickly pushed it aside, still too angry to think anymore on that. "Then I need to speak with Princess Star, now!" Skullnick demanded, trying to push past the two guards, preparing to give the girl the scolding of her life. "Where is she?!"

Despite their fear, the two guards held the troll general back, Dex stating, "Sorry, Ma'am but Princess Star is occupied at the moment and has been given strict orders not to be disturbed."

"Occupied?!" Skullnick roared. "What could possibly be more important than monsters running loose through the castle?!"

…

Marco slowly opened his eyes, his whole body throbbing and his head feeling like it was full of liquid, though his neck felt the worst of it all, the whole area burning with pain. He tried to remember where he was or what had happened before, but his mind was drawing a blank. The last thing he remembered Star had rescued him from Toffee, shooting a powerful beam at the terrifying lizard, but Marco couldn't recall anything after that. He still felt too weak to sit up yet, so he just tried to get a look around where he was at, hoping it might help jog his memory. He was in his bed at Butterfly Castle, tucked tightly beneath his soft sheets. How had he gotten back here? Had he passed out? He figured he must have. But what had happened afterwords, though, with Toffee? Did Star and the others manage to beat him? Had he escaped? Were they all right?

Marco went to put a hand to his aching forehead, all the swirling thoughts only making his headache worsen, but he found himself unable to lift his hand, something laying ontop of it. He sat up slightly, his gaze landing on the sleeping Star sitting in a chair beside his bed, her body currently slumped over as she rested peacefully, her hand covering his own. Marco blinked once in surprise, caught off guard by the breathtaking sight of his best friend. He opened his mouth to say her name, but instead all that came out was a loud cough, his throat still sore from being strangled.

Star shifted in her sleep, the sound waking her from her slumber, as she blinked open her eyes. "What?" she mumbled still half-asleep, a far-off look in her blue pupils. That was until she spotted the still-coughing Marco, immediately crying, "Marco!" Before the boy could even respond, Star jumped out of her chair, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. She held him close to her, trying to comfort and protect him there in her warm embrace, all the fear and worry she had been feeling for the last couple of hours finally melting off of her.

Marco's whole body tingled from her touch as his cheeks grew hot once again. After a couple of seconds, he closed his eyes, allowing himself to be buried in her warmth. Finally, Star broke off the hug, pulling away from him and sitting on the side of his bed, ignoring the chair, which had fallen on its side when the blond had jolted up from it. "Star?" Marco tried again, his voice a squeak. "What happened? And where are the others?" he asked, looking around the room. "D-Did Toffee, d-did he... he-"

"Shhh," Star shushed soothingly, putting a hand on his. "You don't have to worry about him. Toffee's gone. That monster can never hurt you ever again."

"Are you sure?" Marco asked, still sounding distressed, unable to believe he was finally free from Toffee's wrath.

"I'm sure," Star said, holding back a shudder as she recalled the bone-chilling scream she had heard echoing around the dark castle walls of Toffee's home.

"But the others," Marco insisted, worriedly. "Are they-"

"They're fine," Star interrupted. "Everything's fine, you're safe now."

But her words did little to phase Marco, the boy still looking upset about something, his eyes alive and filled with pain. "Hey, you okay," she asked in concern.

Marco's eyes filled with tears, as he shook his head silently. "Marco, what's wrong?" she pressed, leaning a bit closer to him, his uncharacteristic behavior frightening her more than a little.

Finally, his resolve seemed to break, as tears burst from his eyes, streaming freely down his face. "I-I was so scared, Star," he sobbing deeply. "I-I thought I would never see you again. I thought he was gonna take me away from you forever." Marco's whole body shook as he chocked out his sorrowful confession. "I tried to be strong, I really did. Because you told me you would save me... b-b-but when Toffee- when he- he... I-I was just so afraid!"

Star felt her heart break, as Marco threw his arms around her in a hug, seeking her comfort and affection from his worry. She held onto him closely, trying to sooth his heavy thoughts and fill him with warmth and love. "I'm so sorry, Marco," she said, sounding chocked up as well. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could have protected you better."

Marco held onto the girl tightly, as if afraid she would be pulled from his grasp again, trying to soak in as much of her warmth as he could in between gasps for breath. "But you're the one who saved me," Marco pointed out. "I saw you when you busted through that crystal. You were so amazing and powerful."

"Well to tell you the truth I barely remember any of that. All I could think about was getting to you," Star admitted. She paused for a second before adding, "And I was really scared, too."

"Why?" Marco asked.

Star pulled out of the hug, as she began gently wiping the tears from his cheeks, looking deep into his eyes, Marco seeing all the worry and fear she had been experiencing shining in her sky blue irises. "Because I almost couldn't reach you. I almost lost you and that terrified me more than anything in the world."

"It did?" Marco asked, his cheeks flushed and his heart pounding in excitement. "Why is that?"

"Because you're my boyfriend," Star confessed. "And you just mean so much to me, Marco. Ever since I met you, I've had the time of my life getting to know you and being near you. You are the most important person in my life and I would be lost without you here."

Then to emphasis her point, she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, pouring all her love and tenderness into the simple act. After a couple of breathtaking seconds, she pulled away, while keeping a steady gaze on Marco, watching him for his reaction. Marco blinked once, before he smiled one of his cute signature smiles, the sadness finally gone from his face. "I feel the same way!" he blurted out, before lowering his head a bit from embarrassment at the sudden declaration, leaving Star to gush over his irresistible sweetness. "You are just so amazing, Star," he continued softly. His eyes finally met hers again, causing his cheeks to flush even more. "I'm glad I got the chance to meet you."

"Me too," Star said, moving so she was now laying beside him. She gently pulled his head down so it was resting on her shoulder, the two just silently enjoying the moment, content just being together once again, knowing that at last their trouble was behind them. Finally, the two pulled away, Star leaning in to kiss Marco again, but was stopped as Marco's voice cut through the moment. "Star?" he said, the blond royal stopping mid-kiss.

"Yes, Marco," Star said, unsure why the boy had chosen now to speak.

"I have a question," he said, his eyebrows pinched together in confusion.

"What's that?" Star asked, wondering what could be on her bestie's mind.

"What's a boyfriend?" he asked, cocking his head to the side with genuine curiosity.

There was a few seconds of silence, before Star burst out into laughter, shaking her head at his cute naivety. "I'll explain later," she said.

Then the two, as one, pulled into another kiss, their cheek marks both glowing bright white as they did. They both stayed like that for a while, as the kiss deepened, Star moving closer, his presence intoxicating to her and Marco gently moving his lips against hers, relishing in the pure amazement the two were experiencing right then, aware of nothing else but each other.

Eventually, the door to the room opened, Jackie and Janna walking in with smiles on their faces, Jackie with a bouquet of beautiful flowers and Janna with a box full of chocolates, get-well gifts for their hurt friend, but once they spotted Star and Marco they froze in place. The girls mouths dropped open in shock, Janna quickly drawing her phone out of her pocket about to take a picture to commemorate the moment, but was thwarted as Jackie grabbed ahold of her arm, pulling her out of the room. The door slowly closed behind them, Jackie taking care to make as little noise as possible, leaving the door barely open a crack.

The skater girl sighed, glad she hadn't interrupted their moment, wanting her two friends to have all the happiness they deserved, especially after what they had just went though. "Welllll," Janna's smirking voice cut through her thoughts, Jackie not surprised to see the girl giving her a meaningful look.

"Well what?" Jackie asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Janna held out a hand, saying in a suggestive tone, "I believe there is still the matter of payment."

Jackie just eyed her creepy roommate's outstretched hand, with an annoyed glare. "Really, Jan," Jackie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "After seeing that..." she pointed to the door. "...this is the first thing you do." she gestured back to Janna's still begging hand.

"Hey, I'm a simple girl with simple needs," Janna said slyly, shrugging.

"Can't we just take a moment to think about how great this is? I mean are two best friends are officially a couple. How can you not be happy for them?"

"I am happy for them," Janna admitted. "Buttt, I'm still me, which means I'm gonna need some fulfillment for winning the bet, like right now."

Jackie just sighed, before reaching in her pocket to pull out the cash for her greedy friend. Until, she stopped, an idea popping into her head. "Double or nothing," she quickly blurted.

Janna leaned forward, curiously. "I'm listening," she said.

"Well since they're dating now, I bet you I can set up the perfect first date for the two and by the end Star and Marco will be closer than ever," she hypothesized.

"What happened to not interfering?" Janna asked smugly.

"I think that ship has already sailed," Jackie responded. "I mean technically speaking you and I both broke like every rule of the last bet so it should have already been called off."

"Fine, deal," Janna said, shaking her friend's hand. "But I think we both know with those two's track record there is no way everything will go perfectly fine. More than likely some magical problem or monster issue will get in the way. Heck maybe even both."

"Well we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Jackie answered confidently.

"Excuse me, girls." The two turned to see all the monsters hovering around them, with anxious expressions. "Has my son awakened yet?" Buff Frog asked, with obvious concern.

"What are you all doing here?" Jackie asked in surprise. "I thought you were all being kept in custody."

"Yeah we were but we snuck out so we could see, Marco," Bearicorn explained. "We were all really worried."

"Pluzzz we heard that general troll lady wazz here," Boo Fly buzzed, sounding clearly frightened at the idea. "Zzzhe'zzz really zzzcary!"

"Okay fair," Janna said, even the creepy girl herself was admittedly afraid of the grouchy leader. "But weren't you being watched by the guards. How did you get away?"

"This weird hyper girl helped us sneak out," Beard Deer explained, pointing behind him. And on cue, StarFan13 popped out from behind the rugged monster shouting, "Helllooo!" before snapping a picture of all of them, rendering the whole room blind. "Ohmygosh, I can't believe Star's letting monsters into the castle now, that is just so cool!" the hyper girl excitedly cheered, pressing her hands against her cheeks, her eyes somehow turning into actual stars as she thought of her blond heroine.

The others all just stared at her awkwardly, as the fan girl continued her rant, until Buff Frog once again asked the two startled girls, "Is Marco awake?"

Jackie nodded her head. "Yep, he just woke up," the skater said. "Star's with him."

Buff Frog let out a sigh of relief, his primal fear finally wearing off. "But he's kinda in the middle of something right now," Janna hesitantly added.

"Middle of something?" Buff Frog questioned.

"Yeah," Jackie said. "So I don't think they want to-"

"Oh my gosh, are little Marco is kissing a girl!" Lobster Claws yelled, as he peeked through the small crack in the door. The others all gasped, before stampeding over to the door, all of them fighting as they tried to look through the tiny opening, StarFan13 fighting her way through the crowd with a fury as she prepared to take a picture of the moment she had been waiting for. "-be disturbed," Jackie finished needlessly.

Within Marco's room, Star and Marco finally broke off the kiss, as Star looked around the room quizzically. "What is it?" Marco asked breathlessly, his cheeks still pooling with blood.

"Did you hear something?" Star asked, her cheeks equally as red. Just then, the door flew open as the monsters all collapsed into the room in a huge pile, Star and Marco jumping in surprise. They all groaned in pain for a second, before Marco (finally recovering from his shock) exclaimed, "Guys!"

"Marco!" they all responded, before rushing over to the boy's bed, all of them hugging and fussing over the boy, asking him how he was feeling and/or congratulating him on getting to date the beautiful princess. The boy just smiled, loving all the attention he was getting, which made Star's heart float with joy to see him so happy. "One at a time, guys," Star said in laughter. "Don't crowd him!"

The room was soon alive with festive energy as everyone settled down into talking and reminiscing, as they celebrated their triumphant victory over the hated lizard. They obliged the princess' request, each taking a turn to get to greet the eager boy, meaning Star was finally able to get a chance to talk to all of Marco's adopted family without all of them trying to kill or threaten her, which was nice. StarFan13 surprised the both of them as she pulled them into a crushing hug going on and on about how amazing it was that the two were now boyfriend and girlfriend, Marco still looking to the blond for an explanation, which Star did her best to give once she got her breath back. Jackie and Janna gave Marco their gifts, which he gratefully hugged them over, making the both of them smile ear to ear, the boy's joy still as infectious as ever. But the best was probably the last, as Buff Frog took his turn, instantly sweeping the hooded boy into a fatherly hug, tears springing up into his eyes. It was a heartfelt moment, the room going quiet and just watching father and son reunite in elated silence.

"I sorry I had to send you away, my boy," Buff Frog apologized. "I sorry you had to go it alone."

"It's okay, Marco said reassuringly. "I'm glad you did. I made so many new friends and I got to make a life for myself, just like you wanted."

"Yes you did. And I so proud of you, Marco," Buff Frog whispered, which caused Marco to hold on tighter to his father, his approval making Marco's whole body warm up with self-pride. "You have become all that I wanted you to be. I only wish your parents were here to see this."

"Me too," Marco admitted, still feeling a small twist in his gut at the thought of them, but it passed quickly. "I missed you so much," he added, his voice choking up a bit.

"And I miss you,"Buff Frog added, running a claw through the back of Marco's hair. "I think of you everyday you were gone."

Star watched the two with solace, glad to see Marco getting some much needed attention from his father, but jumped a bit as she heard a throat clearing from the doorway, her and everyone else all turning to see one of the castle servants, even Marco and Buff Frog breaking off their hug. The servant was eying all of the monsters nervously, before stuttering, "Ummm, s-sorry to interrupt Princess Star." He instantly bowed in respect to the young royal. "B-But your parents have just arrived and they, a-along with General Skullnick, would like to speak with you." His face went pale as he eyed all the terrifying creatures that were watching him silently.

"Yes thank you, Manfred," Star said in a dismissive manner, much to the servants relief. "Tell my parents I will be there in a moment."

Manfred bowed again, before practically running away down the hallway. Once he was gone, Star took a deep breath, trying to steel her nerves. She had known she couldn't go long without them finding out, still she was dreading the meeting. And since it seemed Skullnick had gotten to them before her, this could prove to be a problem. She rose up from the bed, saying in an authoritative tone, "Welp, fun time's over. Let's get this over with."

…

"I'm telling you the princess has lost her mind!" Skullnick's echoing roar vibrated through the thick castle walls, making all the guards standing on duty cringe, some even covering their ears. Queen Moon and King River however seemed unaffected by the yell, perhaps the two of them a little too use to hearing it over the years, maintaining their poise, as they sat up straight and refined on their thrones.

"Yes, thank you, General Skullnick," Queen Moon sighed, trying to resist the urge to cover her head with her hand. "We get the idea."

"But allowing monsters into the castle-" Skullnick tried again.

"Which we intend to discuss with Star, in detail, once she arrives," Moon interrupted, giving her a chiding glare which silenced any further argument.

"I don't know, dear," King River spoke up, his voice raising with every word. "The general has a point. I mean, monster scum in my castle, _simply outrageous_!"

"River," Moon mumbled, shooting her husband a look.

"I mean they declared war on us," River continued, ignoring his wife, crossing his arms in a childish manner. "And now the cowards come to our palace begging for forgiveness. I say we annihilate the lot of them."

"We can't do that," Moon argued, in a scolding tone. "Who knows what the monsters would do in retaliation. We might end up only making things worse. We should wait and see what Star has to say."

"But dear," River started again. "The monster's surrendering!"

"Yes, admittedly, it is quite strange. And Star taking their side and blindly trusting them is even stranger. I'm not sure what that girl is thinking."

"Well you know what I think?! I think they found some kind of way to brainwash her!"

"That's preposterous! How would the monsters even be able to do that?!"

The argument continued, as Star listened in, putting an ear to the door, trying to wait for the right moment to enter. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be one, as the conversation instead only seemed to grow worse and worse. The others all watched Star, who were in turn watched suspiciously by the guards stationed there, waiting for her to let them know what was going on from the other side, but judging from the grimace on her face it didn't look too hopeful. And considering the enraged screams from the general about the "monster scum" they had all heard echoing through the hallway earlier, they were pretty convinced that their fears were correct.

"So, uhhh," Lobster Claws hesitantly spoke up. "Should we just come back later?"

Star pulled away from the door, looking at all the monster's, plus Marco's, Jackie's, and Janna's, worried faces, not answering right away. "We can't," Star said firmly. "My parents are actually willing to listen right now... sorta." She bit her lip, looking unsure for a second, before taking a calming breath. "If we're going to try this, we have to do it now," she finished, trying to sound confident, but they could all see the doubt in her eyes.

"Very well then," Buff Frog said, looking far more ready than Star felt. "Let's talk to parents."

Star gave the rest of the monsters a sheepish smile, saying, "Sorry guys, but its probably best if the rest of you stay here. I think the less of you that show up for this, the better. Otherwise you'll all just end up making the whole thing way more tense and stressful." The blond rolled her eyes as she said this.

But none of them looked upset by this, nodding in understanding, while mentally they were sighing in relief, they had all been feeling quite anxious about facing the terrifying heads of Mewman power. Jackie and Janna led them away, arguing about which part of the castle to show the monsters first, while several nervous guards accompanied them, looking ready for the monsters to strike at any moment. Marco, however, stayed behind with Star and Buff Frog, ready to enter the room alongside them, much to Star's surprise. "Don't you want to go with the others?" Star asked the boy.

Marco shook his head. "No, I'd rather stay and see what happens, if that's alright," Marco replied, courageously.

Star smiled, feeling braver to have the boy near. "Of course it's fine," she said, shooting him a grateful smile. With that she turned back to the doors preparing to throw them open, but just before she did she looked to Buff Frog asking, "Ready?"

The frog nodded. Star took in a deep breath, steeling her nerves, muttering, "Here we go," before throwing the doors wide open. The throne room went quiet as all eyes turned to the doorway, lingering on the young royal. Her parents were watching her closely, their faces unreadable, while beside them, Skullnick glared openly at the monster and princess, looking as suspicious as ever and Star felt her stomach twist uncomfortably, losing some of her much needed nerve.

She was about to take a step forward when she remembered something. Her parents still didn't know about Marco and she didn't want to add introducing them to the boyfriend she had been lying about onto her already overwhelming list of uncomfortable subjects she was gonna have to discuss with her parents. She turned to look back at Marco, who to his credit, was looking far less uncomfortable than she was expecting, prepared to follow Star inside. She whispered to him, "Wait here, okay."

Marco nodded, letting Star and Buff Frog stride confidently into the room, the princess in the lead. She tried to keep her royal mask on as best as she could, trying not to let the general's cold stare, falter her step, making herself stand as tall as possible. Once she was close enough, she curtseyed, just like she had been taught, while Buff Frog bowed low to the ground. As she stood up straight once more, she said in the most regal voice she could, "Mom, dad, I'm glad to see you back. You wanted to speak to me."

"What is he doing here?!" Skullnick roared, pointing accusingly at the monster. "I thought all the monsters were in custody."

"I thought Buff Frog should be here for this," Star shot back, keeping her tone strong. "So that he could speak on behalf of himself and the rest of the monsters." She looked over to her parents, silently asking them for permission.

"See I told you, my queen," Skullnick said, ignoring the blond royal. "Star is siding with the monsters and now she is violating my orders."

"Yes, thank you, General," Moon said, keeping a firm scowl on the troll. "But if you wouldn't mind giving us some time to talk with our daughter... alone."

Skullnick looked annoyed by the dismissal, but she bowed before storming out of the room. She stopped in front of Marco, who looked up at her blankly. "Something tells me you had something to do with this," she hissed, crossing her arms. Marco said nothing, but he looked away from the monster guiltily. "Thought so." Skullnick continued on down the hallway, muttering under the breath about the future state of Mewni and the way too trusting princess leading them all to bad times.

"Now that we're alone," Moon continued, relieved to not have the overworked general interrupting her every couple of seconds. "Buff Frog was it?"

"Yes, majesty," Buff Frog said formally.

"Am I to presume you are the new leader of the monsters?" Moon asked.

"Da, I take over in Toffee's place," Buff Frog replied honestly.

"Speaking of which, there have been a lot of rumors regarding what became of Toffee," Moon continued, looking between her daughter and the monster equally. "Would either of you care to explain what actually happened?"

"Yes, is it true the lizard got what he deserved!" River exclaimed, causing Moon to sigh.

Star wasn't surprised by the question, she had been expecting them to ask this, having already thought up a good reply on the way there. "Buff Frog and the other monsters killed him," she said, gesturing to the monster behind her.

"And where did this happen?" Moon asked, suspiciously. "We had no word of any such claims. We were told the monster's fled after their attack failed."

"That is because it was at Toffee's castle, Your Highness," Buff Frog answered.

"Then how do we know this to be true?" Moon asked, her tone harsh.

"Yes, how do we know this isn't some trick set up by Toffee?!" River added, sounding equally skeptical.

Buff Frog didn't know what to say to that, but Star quickly interjected. "It is true," she said, forcefully.

"And how can you be sure?" Moon countered, raising an eyebrow at her daughter.

"I, uhhh," Star hesitantly started, really not wanting to finish the sentence. She closed her eyes before saying. "I was kind of there."

Star didn't have to see to know her mother was probably freaking out right then, as she exclaimed in a panic, "You were there!"

Star flinched, before risking opening her eyes, greeted by her parents' shocked faces. "Yes," she said, carefully.

"How did you even get there?" Moon asked.

"Buff Frog showed me the way?" Star answered, shamefacedly.

"Do you mean that you actually helped to defeat Toffee?" River asked in amazement. "The lizard that has plagued this land for over a decade. The undefeated creature of pure hate and evil."

"Yeaaaahhhh," Star said, reluctantly, giving them both a sheepish smile.

River let out a hearty laugh. "Ha, that's my girl," he said proudly, Moon just face palming, shaking her head at her husband's antics.

"River, I hardly think that is the point," Moon scolded.

"I'm sorry, my dear," River apologized. "But it is pretty spectacular that our daughter helped to defeat that horrid lizard, isn't it?!"

"No it most certainly is not," Moon countered, before giving her daughter a scolding look. "Star you should no better than to put yourself at risk like that. What if you had been unable to defeat Toffee? What would you have done then? You could have been gravely injured." Star looked down, her face the picture of guilt, Buff Frog just watching her sadly in silence. If there was one thing Star couldn't stand it was disappointing her mother, the blond having difficulty listening to her mother's lecture, her chiding tone heart-wrenching to the girl. "Honestly Star, what were you thinking? Going to the base of the monsters, without even telling anyone! What could have possessed you to-"

"It's not her fault!" Star was shocked as Marco, out of nowhere, jumped in front of her. He froze for a second as everyone's attention was directed to him, Marco swallowing hard, the unblinking stare of the two crowned monarchs making him anxious. "Please, Your Majesties, don't blame Star for what happened," he continued, his voice shaking slightly. "It was my fault, not hers." He lowered his head in shame.

"What are you doing?" Star whispered into the boy's ear.

"I'm not sure," he replied, softly.

"Who are you?" Moon asked, drawing the hoodie-wearing boy's attention back.

"I'm Marco, Your Highness," Marco responded, trying to keep the stutter out of his voice. He started to reach out a hand to shake, until Star coughed behind him, muttering "bow" as she did. He obeyed doing a quick, cute little bow in front of them.

"Marco?" Moon said in surprise. "Aren't you that orphan boy that danced with Star."

"Yes, that's right," Marco answered.

"And why do you say this is your fault, my lad?" River asked.

Marco thought for a moment before answering, "Because Star only went after Toffee to save me. And if I wasn't here then she never would have been in any danger in the first place."

"Why would the lizard have targeted you?" River asked, suspiciously.

"Because Marco is my son," Buff Frog interjected, moving so he was right behind the boy.

"Your son?!" Moon exclaimed.

"Yes. I brought him here to help him escape from Toffee, so he could live own life. But Toffee found him again and took him back." Buff Frog closed his eyes, feeling a deep regret for not protecting Marco better. His gaze slowly switched to the princess, giving her a warm smile. "If it wasn't for your daughter, my little Marco could have been hurt. I owe her great debt." He looked back to the startled king and queen saying assertively, "This why I wish to make peace. I see good in Mewmans, while Toffee has corrupted rest of monsters to see only bad. But I want to show them that the lizard was wrong. I want to start over, to create new world, a world that will be safe for my child."

"That is... quite noble," Moon said, softly, clearly caught off-guard by the monster's conviction. Her and River shared a look, neither sure what to do.

"I no I can not fix everything we have done to you," Buff Frog continued, still trying to convince them. "But if you give me chance I hope to make things better for both of us."

"Please, Your Majesties," Marco spoke up, in a pleading tone. "I know what the monsters did to you in the past was wrong, but they're only here to try and make up for that. They want peace just as much as you two do."

"And what do they benefit from surrendering?" Moon asked, bluntly.

Marco thought, before answering, "The hope that someday they can be treated like equals."

Moon tried to hide her shock at the boy's words. That sounded rather familiar, her head suddenly swimming with old memories she believed she had long since forgotten. She recalled a young couple who had often pleaded with her in the past about monster equality, though at the time she had been unshaken by their words, simply dismissing it as nonsense. Though they had been quite persistent still, never simply taking no for an answer...

Moon tried to push the thought aside, not sure what had brought the memory on in the first place, the young boy in front of her just strongly reminding her of them. "Can you give us a moment?" she requested. "We'd like to discuss some things before we give you an answer."

"Of course, Queen Moon," Buff Frog said bowing. "Come Marco." Marco obeyed his father, the two exiting the room together. Marco whispered over his shoulder to his dad as they did, "Do you think it worked?"

"I not sure, yet," Buff Frog asked, in melancholy.

Star started to follow after them, until she heard her mother call her name. "Star." The girl turned back in surprise. "We would like you to stay here as well," Moon said.

Star was taken aback that her mother would ask for her opinion, but she quickly recovered, nodding her head, before straightening her posture as much as she could. "Of course," she responded as regally as she could.

Moon waited until the doors closed shut, with a resounding rumble, before asking "Star, do you really trust this monster?"

"Yes, I do. With my life," she answered immediately. "He helped me when he didn't have to. And I never would have gotten Marco back or stopped Toffee without him. He's more than earned my trust."

"And what about this boy?" River continued. "It doesn't upset you that he lied to you about being raised by monsters? Surely he can't be trusted."

"Marco did nothing wrong," Star replied firmly, feeling a need to defend her Marco. "It's not like he tried to manipulate me or anything. He just needed a safe place to hide from Toffee so that he wouldn't hurt him again. And yes maybe he didn't tell me about the whole being raised by monsters thing, but the only reason he did that was because he was afraid of what would happen if he did."

King River and Queen Moon shared a look as Star continued to ramble on about the boy she so obviously cared about, pacing back and forth in front of them. "And who can blame him. We treat the monsters awfully, it's the only reason they lashed out in the first place. He was terrified that I would treat him differently because of who raised him, when really nothing could ever change the way I feel. Marco's the nicest boy I have ever known. He's good and sweet and kind. He would never hurt anyone."

"Star," Moon called, halting the girl in her steps. She turned to them with a dazed and embarrassed look, clearly having forgotten where she was at. "We believe you," Moon finished, giving her a knowing look.

Star nervously cleared her throat, standing at attention once again. "Yes well, anyways," she said awkwardly, before regaining her princess composure once again. "The point is, Marco isn't a bad person and neither is Buff Frog or most of the monsters for that matter. It's Toffee who is to blame for all this, not the rest of the monsters."

"So then the real question remains," Moon said, thoughtfully, looking between her family. "Do you think we should accept their proposal?"

"Yes, I do," Star said, nodding. "Making peace does seem like the better option than fighting a losing battle, doesn't it?"

Moon wasn't surprised, by her daughter's answer, but now came the real challenge. She looked to her husband. "What do you think, River? Do you still think we should 'annihilate' them all?"

River looked down at his daughter, who was giving him a pleading look, while also holding in her breath. "No, my dear. I think it's time we put an end to this senseless violence," the king stated, throwing both royal women for a shock. "Star makes a good point. And if she thinks this is for the best, then I think we should trust her judgment. After all, she's grown into quite the capable ruler... just like her mother."

Star felt her cheeks grow hot at the unexpected compliment, not realizing her father thought so highly of her. After a moment, Moon gave a curt nod, saying, "Agreed." She rose from her throne and River doing the same, Star sucking in a breath, as she followed after her parents.

Marco and Buff Frog both jumped as the doors to the throne room swung open, trying to bury the nervous frowns they had had on not a moment ago, as Buff Frog dropped down onto one knee, lowering his head submissively, and Marco quickly mimicked his father's movements.

Moon and River stopped before the two, for a moment just towering over their forms. Until finally, Queen Moon said in a diplomatic tone, "Buff Frog, on behalf of the Kingdom of Mewni we would like to accept your offer of peace and put an end to this war once and for all."

Marco smiled widely at that and Buff Frog immediately stood, shaking Moon's hand graciously. "Thank you so much for opportunity, Your Highness," the frog praised, before leaning in to kiss her hand, which she immediately pulled away before he could.

"Yes well, I still don't exactly trust you, but my daughter said some very compelling things in your defense, so I am willing to give this a chance," Moon said, honestly. "Please do not betray my kindness," she added, sharply.

"Never, Your Highness," Buff Frog said, bowing.

"And as for you," Moon said, turning to Marco with a serious expression, which made Marco instantly uncomfortable.

"Y-Yes," Marco said, trying to keep the stutter out of his voice.

But Moon's harsh look switched to a smile, as she said softly, " I want to thank you, Marco, for bringing joy back into my daughter's life. It is so nice to see her smile again. I owe you a great debt. You are more than welcome to remain here for as long as you would like."

"W-Wow," Marco muttered in disbelief. "Thank you so much, ma'am- I-I mean, Queen Moon!" He dropped into an embarrassed bow.

"Come here, you!" But he was quickly swept up by King River, as he squeezed him in a bear-like hug, Marco feeling like all his bones were breaking as he did. "Good show, my lad. So nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Marco coughed out in a strained tone, still feeling like he was being crushed.

"Even if Star did try to keep you a secret from us," Moon added, before shooting her daughter a look, causing Star to laugh nervously.

"Uh, ha ha," the blond chuckled, sheepishly, hands behind her back. "So you knew about that, then?"

"Oh yes, for quite some time now," River answered, finally setting the boy back down on his feet again, leaving the boy struggling to regain his breath, Buff Frog checking on his son to make sure he was alright.

"How'd you find out?" Star asked, pretty sure she knew the answer.

"General Skullnick informed us you had let a new orphan into the palace," Moon explained.

"And that you and he seemed quite attached to each other, am I right my lad?" River bellowed, playfully slamming a hand into Marco's back, which nearly knocked the boy over.

"Oh," was all Star said looking away, not sure what else to say to that. It came as quite a shock to her that the general had noticed normally iron-blooded troll's softer side.

"She suggested we shouldn't push you on the matter and give you some time to tell us about him on your own and we agreed. We figured you would tell us when you were ready."

Star thought about that for a second. It came as quite a shock to hear that the general had noticed Star's need for space, still thrown off by the normally iron-blooded troll's softer side. "Soooo, are you guys mad?" Star risked.

"Well we still aren't happy about it?" Queen Moon admitted, giving her daughter a chiding glare. She sighed, before adding much gentler, "But we do understand why you did it. We put a lot on you and I know it couldn't have been easy for you. So if having this boy around made you happy, even if it was in secret, then I'm willing to look past it."

Star nodded, giving her mom a smile. "Thanks mom," she said, pulling her into a quick hug.

"You're welcome, sweetie," she said, giving her a gentle squeeze back. Once the two separated, Moon gave her a push toward Marco and Star instantly responded, closing the distance as she threw her arms around him in joy. "We did it, Marco. We did it!" She somehow lifted him off the ground, spinning him in a quick circle. "We brought peace to the monsters and the rest of Mewni! Together!"

Marco was laughing, holding tightly onto her, as she brought him back down to the ground. "Yeah we did, didn't we?" he whispered in awe.

"Your parents would be so proud," she said, finally letting go of him and moving to his side. Marco teared up, giving her a soft smile.

"Yeah I guess they would," Marco said, his voice cracking.

"So then Star," Moon said, teasingly, drawing the two's attention back to her and off of each other, both her and her husband giving their daughter sly looks. "Am I to assume this boy is more than just your mere companion."

Star was about to respond, but Marco beat her to it, raising a finger in the air to draw their attention. "Umm, yes, I'm also her smooch buddy," Marco said hesitantly, before turning to Star for conformation he had said it right.

Star just smiled, taking his hand in hers. "Close enough," she said, before giving him a quick peck on the cheek, watching as his face turned the cutest shade of red, not caring who was watching.

 **And that officially brings season 1 of Light of the Sun and Stars to a close! Whew! So what did you guys think?! I wanted to get this one out a few days ago but I kept going back and reworking the ending part because I wanted everyone's interactions to feel real and genuine. And it was a lot to get through in a very short amount of time, so I hope I tackled it okay. Plus, though we met Queen Moon and King River in a previous chapter, this felt more like their real big introduction to the story (y'know at the end of part 1 perfect placement on my part ;) ) so I'm still trying to get a feel for their characters. I like them in cannon but I wanted them to be less strict here and more trying to be supportive of their daughter.**

 **And of course I had to end on a Starco moment, those two babies deserve all the love and happiness in the world! So, part 2 will come out soon-ish. I'm gonna say three weeks, but do not be surprised if it takes me a bit longer than that, life is still busy and all that. But trust me guys, it will be worth the wait!**

 **Oh and also my birthday is coming up soon (it's August 29th in case anyone is wondering) and so you might want to be on the lookout for something new from me! *hint, hint* Probably not gonna be on my birthday but pretty close to it if I can! We'll see, you know me.**

 **Anyways, that's about all I have to say so I hope you all have a great couple of weeks and I will see you next season! Love you guys, bye!**

 **Janna: Plus, next chapter you guys will want to be keeping an eye on the sky, because it will be turning red! Blood red!**

 **Janna! No spoilers! And I already told you I am not doing a talk to a character from my story after they break the forth wall in my author's notes! I have a system!**

 **Janna: You do? Looks like a pretty jumbled up mess to me.**

 **Ugh, ignore her. On to the comments!**

 **OmegaDelta- Well, that is the plan at least. Hopefully things will go well for our little princess. ;) And yeah, that is a good question. The Diaz name probably isn't all that loved by the rest of Mewni, huh? Well you'll just have to wait and see! Thank you I will do my best!**

 **Meatpuppett- Haha thanks! Glad you liked it! The fight scene was a lot of fun to write and I am looking forward to doing more in the future now that I know I'm good at them! And yeah, Star would do just about anything for her Marco, so I wanted to show the raw emotion she was experiencing as she tried desperately to reach him, I've had that scene planned out in my head for like forever now, glad I finally got to bring it to life.**

 **Also, thank you for reading this story! I can honestly barely believe it's been over a year now! Man, time sure does fly! It's been an amazing experience for me too and I am definitely looking forward for the year to come!**

 **Gamelover41592- Thank you! Glad you liked this one! And yeah it was a bit darker than my normal taste (especially the end) but I didn't want to shy away from the epic end I felt like it deserved. Toffee was a killer, plain and simple, I wanted his end to be a satisfying, if a bit chilling, way to send off the cold-blooded monster.**

 **The Intelligent Otaku 556- Hahaha, thank you, thank you! *bows several times* Glad you enjoyed it so much! And yes Team Mewni 1, Team Toffee... well let's just say his score hit the negative the second he hit Marco. Nobody touches my baby! Haha, anyways I hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **SugarQueen97- Thank you so much! It was a pretty great climax if I do say so myself! Yeah, I agree, Toffee had to die there, now Marco and the others can take the time to heal from his evil deeds. Also, yeah, Toffee was by far my favorite villain in the show but I was kinda disappointed when he had no real backstory or motivation for what he did other than wanting to reclaim his finger. We didn't really even find out why he killed Moon's mother. Though I think part of the charm of Toffee was the fact that he was always bathed in mystery. So, though I didn't fully give a backstory in my version, I did want to show his change over a period of time. Though I wouldn't call his intentions noble he did genuinely want a better life for the monsters in the beginning, but over time his greed got the better of him, until in the end he was equally willing to kill his fellow monsters just so he could exact his revenge and gain more power. His inner monologue in the end was probably my favorite Toffee part to write for that reason, honestly. And yes, I wanted to make sure that everyone had their time to shine in the end and that only through working together did they stand a chance against him. Though Marco taking Toffee's ring was something I decided to change, cause originally Buff Frog was the one who did it and I felt like it was much better this way.**

 **You may not have to wait until season 2 if that is what you are wanting! Starco comes in every chapter I can throw it in! And their relationship is addressed in this one rest assured, though yes, Marco absolutely doesn't know what that means. Haha. Way to read my mind on that! XD**

 **I see where you are coming from there, though I hope I didn't come across as hating on people for any comment that is not absolutely 100% positive, people are allowed to their opinion. I know how easily that can turn on you and honestly it's stupid to expect every person to just praise the heck out of something you make cause there is always gonna be mistakes. I was mostly talking about trolls, which so far I haven't really come across cause I have a really great set of readers!**

 **I think the show does it's best, but is far from perfect. I've heard several people say the show has a flawed set of romance, and I can see why. There does seem to be a lot of jumps of emotions here and there, but personally I still enjoy every second I can get out of it. Understandable if others can't though.**

 **I feel like in a lot of ways Jackie really gets the short end of the stick. I think she really is cool and great but her character in the show really came down to a roadblock to Starco, (which the scenes of Star suffering didn't really help much either) so a lot of people quickly turned on her. Which is a shame. I really hope in season 4 she and Marco are able to stay friends because I really do miss seeing her. But yes in my story, I wanted Jackie to just be the fun, cool character she is, so I avoided making her a rival to Star, to apparently good results. But yeah I do see the appeal. I honestly did consider having Brittney is season 2, just so she would be flirty to Marco, mostly to annoy Star, but I don't really think it's necessary for this one. I pretty much wrote her out of the story altogether. There is enough drama in here without having to add love rival in there, haha.**

 **Finally, thank you for the kind words. I did struggle a lot with low self-esteem in the past, but honestly when I started posting this story and saw how many people loved and supported it, it really helped me overcome a lot of that and become much more self-confident. Thank you so much for the review, fellow writer, it's always a pleasure!**

 **InfiniteClockWise- Hahaha, yes! And what happens next is... pure epicness! ;) Haha, hope you enjoy!**

 **Just a Typer- Thanks, it was one of my favorites, too!**

 **Allen Vth- Yeah, turns out he was not as civilized as he always tried to come across as being, he was just straight-forward a monster. Losing to the boy he considered to be his puppet just drove him to his very breaking point. And yeah he did enjoy hurting both Marco and Buff Frog, good thing he got what he deserved in the end, the most ironic death I could think of.**

 **Haha, yeah, that's probably gonna blow their minds when they find out. And just imagine how their going to react when they realize that someday they are going to be technically related to the monsters, once Star and Marco tie the knot. Hope they don't freeze anyone in crystal for thousands of years. And that is also a fair point, nobody knows about Janna's secret, but there is no keeping this from everyone else, she most definitely will have to stand up for the monster's rights.**

 **And that is a good question, where does Marco stand in all of this? Who will he choose Monsters or Mewmans? The girl he has come to love or the family that raised him? Well, it is Marco, so he will find a way to make it work so that he doesn't have to choose. And if they make peace with the Mewmans than the Monsters will be more free to come and go. Finally, yeah, it's a pretty safe bet the Diaz's weren't thought of that highly by their fellow Mewmans. Don't worry I will get into their backstory more in season 2. Thanks for the comment, hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Bedrock Armor- Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! Also don't worry about the confusion, to be fair I was about a week late with that chapter. I do try my best to get them out in a timely manner, but my time is spread pretty thin with a full-time job and sometimes it can't be helped. Honestly, your system is not a bad one for favoriting/following. And as long as you can get to read the stories you enjoy than I think it works perfectly fine! Also, your story does sound pretty interesting! And Starco is always a selling point for me! I need my Starco, as well. Starco for life!**

 **jaffa3- ch. 5- Awww, thanks! I always feel bad for getting them out late, but sometimes taking my time does pay off so it doesn't sound rushed, or in that case, something happening that prevents me from working on it at all.**

 **ch. 6- Oh sorry! Probably should have put a disclaimer in their somewhere. *Ahem* Caution!Chapter may contain intense amounts of drama that has been known to be soul-crushing to some reader. For your own safety, keep at least a full box of tissues on your person at all times during this chapter. How was that?**

 **ch. 10- Thank you! The group hug was my favorite part of that one as well!**

 **ch. 18- Uhhh, as much as I would love to, I do have a plot to keeping going with, sooo no. But don't worry I will try to fit in as much Starco fluff in their as I am physically able to. *Another Disclaimer: Light of the Sun and Stars does not guarantee Starco in every chapter, but it tries it's very hardest. ***

 **Monkey lover 911- Now? Now we wait... okay, no. We don't. Because it is here! Thank you and enjoy!**

 **gemgrace- Hello there, awww I'm so glad you loved it so much! Yeah, I took a lot of time to think of where each character would best fit in my universe and switched personalities a bit in some cases to make them match up a bit better! I really do like how Star and Marco turned out. Originally it was just going to be a straight up switch of personalities, Marco mirroring Star, and Star mirroring Marco, but then I decided to find a blend between the two, which I think was far better. I'm so glad someone noticed! And yeah, Marco did end up with a _severe_ drop in confidence but that is just something he will have to work toward overcoming! Agreed, Jackie and Janna do deserve to have more starring roles in this and every story, because I just adore these two girls so much! (Janna is my second favorite to write behind Marco, who is my sweet baby)**

 **Well thank you for saying that! It's really nice to know you enjoyed this aspect of my Marco! I really like him the way he is too, because I agree that he doesn't have to be a tough to be helpful. Honestly, I don't think people really were frustrated by it, at least I hope not. It really came about after the "Fight of Uncertain Death" chapter when a lot of people mentioned that Marco didn't really contribute much in it and that they wanted to see him do more to fight back, but nobody seemed opposed to him not really being a big fighter in the story. But don't worry I won't change my cinnamon bun Marco, I don't think I could if I wanted to, he is just so amazing as is!**

 **Haha, super protective Star is like the best thing ever to me, too! I do enjoy writing her this way and yeah I do go out of my way to make everyone want to take care of the sweet child because I know that is where the real heart of the story lies and the emotions that result from it! Also because I just want to nurture and protect him from harm just as much as the others do! :3 Marco deserves the world and Star would gladly give it to him if she could.**

 **Glad you enjoyed the newest one! I tried to keep things interesting by constantly throwing everyone a curveball, so no one knew what to expect. At least that was the hope and apparently it went over well! I did my best to give everyone a chance to help, so that it felt like they defeated the lizard together... without each of them helping there was no way they all could have won! Yeah, that was one of my favorite lines, too! And that was just the reaction I was hoping for! And do not fret, the reunion is in this one! And of course, that's what's going to happen! Star can't resist Marco!**

 **Finally, never apologize for leaving me a review, any size. I always appreciate them and I actually do enjoy long ones for the record! And I loved getting to read this one! It's always a huge honor to know someone loves my story so much! Thank you so, so much! *HUGS!***

 **PrometheusDark- Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you! That is a lot of love to have for my story! So glad you're enjoying! And yes, Buff Dad forever!**

 **Next Update: 3 weeks**


	20. Blood Moon Ball

Chapter 19: Blood Moon Ball

 **Hello all you beautiful people! thDorkMagnet is back with the official start of season 2 of my story! Did you all miss me? *silence as she stares around at a bunch of skeletons* Huh? I thought I put my Halloween decorations away, already? Oh well? So I know it's been a while since my last update (like 3 months or so) and I honestly wish I had a good explanation for why it took me so long to get this one out. The truth is that it was mostly just a huge massive case of writer's block that I just could not seem to get over, so I took an unintentional break for a while to try and wait till my creativity returned for this one and instead worked on my new story just so I wouldn't go insane from not working. Plus, my computer crashed and I lost several pages of work that I had to make up and it was sort of disheartening, but I think it was actually for the best because I feel like what I did have to redo is even better now.**

 **Still, totally sorry for the wait, but hey I'm back now and this chapter is _huge,_ which also didn't help in getting this out in a decent time. I considered several times making this a two parter but considering this is the beginning of season 2, I wanted it to feel as big as possible, so I decided against it. Anyways, that's about all I got to say, except of course, thank you all for every favorite, follow, and review, as well as just loving and supporting my story by sticking with me despite my insane tardiness! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the forces of evil and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The sky was tinted red as the night on Mewni began, the stars shining brighter than usual on that special night, while the moon in the sky had turned a blood red color, casting a red shadow upon the world below. All of Mewni had been eagerly awaiting this moment for quite some time, everyone excited to celebrate the rare, once-in-a-lifetime sight in their own way since the blood moon only came about once every six hundred and sixty-seven years. Most in the kingdoms simply threw small parties inviting friends and family to come and celebrate the glorious night, but for those blessed and rich enough, they could spend their night at the luxurious Blood Moon Ball deep within the Butterfly Castle. But whether rich or poor, one thing was for sure, all young couples and lovers would be staying close to one another that night and making sure to keep a weary eye on the sky in the hopes that the light of the blood moon might fall upon them, sealing their love and bond forever.

Within the ballroom of Butterfly Castle, the guests had already begun to arrive, royalty and nobility alike quickly filling up the large ballroom, lively chatter mixing in harmony to the peaceful symphony music that had been hired to perform that night. Everyone was excited for the event, though possibly no one more so than the young blond princess who was looking over the large crowd in hopes of spotting someone. She resisted the urge to stand on her tiptoes, trying to stand up as straight as possible, remembering to keep up appearances, but found herself struggling to remain still, as a nervous energy continued to build inside her.

 _Where is he?_ she wondered to herself, chewing on the inside of her cheek. _He should be here by now, right?_ Star figured Jackie must have taken a little extra time to get him ready, but the anticipation was killing her. Star took a moment from her needless worrying to look herself over for probably the hundredth time that night, checking to make sure she still looked okay, fiddling with the pink single-sleeved dress she was wearing, the same one from the Orphan's Ball, making sure there was not a crease or hem out of place.

"Relax," a voice said beside her, causing Star to jump slightly. She turned to see Janna sipping on punch, the royal so preoccupied with her thoughts that she had forgotten that her creepy friend was there. "You look great."

Star released a shaky sigh, trying to relieve some of her built-up tension, putting a gloved hand to her racing heart. "Thanks. I just want everything to be perfect for tonight," the blond admitted.

"Star, dear," came her mother's voice from behind her, Star turning as gracefully as possible in her uncomfortable boots, making her once again question why she had chosen to wear them. Queen Moon, along with King River, were equally dressed up for the event, both giving their daughter concerned looks.

"Yes mom," Star replied, trying to keep the squeak out of her voice.

"You're twitching," her mother said, in a semi-scolding tone. Star instantly straightened out, putting her hands steadily at her side.

"R-Right, sorry," Star apologized, trying to keep the anxious edge out of her tone.

"Is everything all right?" Moon asked in concern.

"Of course," Star said with a far-too-wide smile, her parents instantly able to tell that their daughter was faking. The blond let the smile drop, knowing they had seen through her charade based on the skeptical looks they were giving her, as she sucked in a deep breath. "Okay maybe not."

"Is this because we denied your request about Buff Frog?" Moon guessed.

"No, I get it," Star said shaking her head. She knew it had been a long shot when she had asked that Buff Frog could be there for the Blood Moon Ball, hoping his position as new leader of the Monsters would earn him the right to be there, but she hadn't been surprised when the answer had been no. Even though they had come a long way in helping achieve Monster rights since Toffee's death, the Mewmans were still weary and skeptical of their long-time enemies, not enough people open-minded enough to see the creatures as anything more than evil.

"I'm just a little nervous about tonight is all. I'll be fine," Star explained.

"Oh that's right, tonight's the big night?" River asked, with a knowing, almost teasing, hint to his tone.

Star nodded, the worry on her face clear.

Moon, seeing her daughter's distress, stepped forward, putting a hand just under her chin and giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead, before looking deep into her sky blue eyes. "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm sure everything will go great tonight."

"Thanks mom," Star said, giving her mother a grateful hug, already beginning to feel her body relax.

"You're welcome," Moon replied, sweetly, patting her daughter on the back. As the two pulled apart Moon added, "Just try to relax and enjoy your evening, Star."

Star nodded, holding back saying what she was thinking, _Kinda hard to relax when all eyes are on you_ , before turning and starting to walk away, Janna following close behind. But her parents seemed to have noticed the slight shift in their daughter's eye, sharing a look as both guessed what was on her mind. And so River added, "Oh and Star one more thing." Star turned back to her parents in surprise, waiting for them to speak. "Just for tonight we are officially relieving you of princess duty."

"Really?" Star said, shocked.

Moon nodded, "Yes, for one night only you are an ordinary Mewman girl, no strings attached, no having to put on heirs. Just go and have fun, alright?"

Star shot them both grateful smiles. "I will," she said, before turning to her beanie-wearing friend. "Come on Janna, let's go see if we can find Marco!"

The king and queen watched as their daughter raced away through the crowd, dragging her friend behind her, a wide, happy smile on her face, and the two felt smiles rise up on their own faces, glad to see their precious little girl, stress-free and just enjoying herself, even if it was just for a night.

…

Someone else at the party was excited for that night, the boy having already taken the time, a lot of time, to plan out what he was going to do on the magical evening, most of it specifically centered on the young destined monarch. He had been waiting, with much anticipation, for the moment when he would be face to face with Star Butterfly, his bestie again. And now here he was, at the Blood Moon Ball, standing amongst the crowd of finely dressed Mewmans, his moment at hand.

He just had to be careful not to blow it... again, his memory of his last encounter with Star still a little upsetting, still unable to believe she had yelled at him and Pony for doing literally _nothing wrong_.

Tom took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. _No, no, Tom. Don't get angry_ , he mentally reminded himself. _Don't lose your cool. That's what got you into trouble with her in the first place. All you gotta do is find Star and apologize. Maybe then she'll actually talk to you again._

Tom looked around for any sign of the girl, his eyes finally spotting her golden locks shimmering in the crowd, watching as she seemed to be making her way across the ballroom in a hurry, as if she were desperate to be somewhere. Concerned he would miss his chance, the boy immediately went over to head her off, sliding into place in front of her, forcing her to stop and stare at him in surprise. He gave her a wide smile, while trying to think of the best greeting possible for this situation.

"Hey there, Starship, didn't see you there," he said, in the most cool, nonchalant tone he could. His eyes slowly drifted over to beside the young royal, feeling his heart pound at the sight of Janna, who was giving him that same smirky smile she always had on. Tom felt the familiar stirrings in his chest, his mouth going suddenly dry as her brown eyes dug into his skin, the purple boy resisting the urge to blush, his cheek flames for just a moment flickering like a heartbeat. _Great_ , Tom sighed mentally, hating this strange feeling he always got from the creepy girl. _As if this wasn't going to be hard enough._ "Hey Janna," he greeted dryly, trying to keep any emotion out of his voice, shooting her a glare.

But Janna didn't seem concerned by the cold-shoulder he was trying to give her, shooting him a flirty wink saying, "Hey there hot stuff, glad to see you remembered me."

Tom tried to hold back the growl that was rising in his throat, while within, his heart skipped a beat. "Hard to forget," he grumbled before directing his attention back to Star. But the blond didn't look happy to see him, her arms crossed as she shot him a very annoyed glare. Tom tried to ignore the look as he said, "So, Star, you look great tonight." The boy gave her a wide smile, but the girl wouldn't even look him in the eye, her foot tapping impatiently, as if waiting for him to move out of the way. He felt the awkwardness continue to form between the two, but he tried to keep his cool, as he continued to try and make small talk with the girl.

"This is a pretty nice party," he said, admiring the fancy ballroom, before looking back to the still-scowling girl. "Pony wanted to be here too, but she got held up by another one of her sisters' schemes to take her throne. So it's just me."

"Greeeaaat," Star said sarcastically under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Um, so I heard about you and Marco, y'know, beating Toffee. That's pretty awesome." He paused for a second before asking hesitantly, "Are you and he..."

"Yes," she responded immediately.

"Oh." Tom didn't know what else to say to that.

"What do you want Tom?" Star finally snapped, with much irritation, just wanting him to get to the point already, knowing he was just stalling.

The boy felt his gut twist at her angered tone, but tried to maintain his confident air, as he shrugged, saying simply, "I just wanted to come over and say hi to my bestie, is all."

"Well, I'm still not talking to you," Star said, irritated, looking away from the boy. "And we're not besties anymore."

Tom tried to keep the hurt from showing on his face. "Oh come on, Star," the boy pleaded, dropping the cocky act, deciding to go the sincere approach. "You've been ignoring us for weeks. How long is this going to go on? You can't stay mad at us forever."

But this seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as she huffed in annoyance, saying angrily, "Oh yeah, watch me." With that she pushed the boy out of the way and stormed off. Tom quickly realizing his plan was falling apart, reached a hand out uselessly towards her as called, "Wait, Star! I didn't mean it like that! Please, come back!"

But the girl had already disappeared into the crowd. The boy let out a frustrated growl, his cheek flames burning out of control for a second. While behind him, unbeknownst to the troubled teen, the punch bowl erupted into flames, even the ice within doing nothing to control its rising temperature as it melted into oblivion, several of the servants trying to put out the flames in panic.

"Ugh why did you say that?!" he scolded himself, pounding a fist into his forehead as a way to punish himself for the slip of the tongue. "All you had to say was sorry. Now she hates you even more. Stupid!"

Tom groaned, burying his face in his hands. It had been an accident, the boy sure he was being sincere, but it seemed his out-of-control attitude had gotten in the way once again. Tom had difficulty telling when he was being nice or not, his temper often getting in the way of simple small talk with others. He was trying his best to work on it, but it just never seemed like it was good enough. Why did he always have to say the worst possible thing and ruin everything for himself?

The boy was pulled out of his gloomy thoughts, as he felt something smack the back of his head. Tom cried out in pain and surprise, reaching a hand up to feel the sore spot for any damages, the hit far stronger than he was use to. He felt anger overtake him again, as growled loudly, turning to glare at whoever had dared to do such a thing to him, his eyes turning red, only to stare into the smirking face of Janna, who looked completely relaxed facing down Tom's flame-fueled death glare, the smirk on her face unmistakable.

The angry teen felt any negative emotion extinguish as his face grew hot once again, only this time not from any fire, all three eyes widening, Tom having forgotten the creepy girl was there. "Janna!" he shouted, his voice cracking against his will, as his heart thumped dangerously away in his chest. He cleared his throat before he snapped in the deepest voice he could, "What the heck did you do that for?!" He continued to rub furiously at the spot, avoiding her eye.

Janna leaned in closer to the boy, close enough that Tom was able to pick up her scent, the only thing he could come close to describing the smell of the half-monster girl was a mixture of flowers and decay, an oddly intoxicating scent to the boy. The girl shrugged, Tom finding the simple act downright adorable, though he would never, _ever_ say it out loud. "Just snapping you out of your little pity-party before you burnt the whole castle down." She gestured to the still flaming punch bowl and the servants who had pulled out fire extinguishers in the hopes of gaining control of the situation.

Tom was silent for a second, before he released a short sigh, making a show of crossing his arms. "And how is purposely making me angry protecting the castle in any way?"

Janna shrugged, raising her hands in surrender, "Okay you got me. Honestly, I don't really care what happens to this place. If anything I think a little chaos would help liven up all these stiffs." She looked around at all the regal guests acting all snooty and pampered, the girl rolling her eyes. "But tonight is an important night for Star and Marco and I promised I would be on my best behavior and try to help everything go smoothly."

Tom's eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "Why? What's happening tonight that's so special?" he asked.

"It's their first date," Janna answered.

The boy looked sadly at the floor. "Oh," he said, downtrodden. It seemed his worst suspicions had been correct. Ever since he saw the video of the Orphans' Ball, he had known deep down how Star felt about Marco, though he had tried not to make himself believe it. But now he couldn't deny it anymore, both Janna and Star herself confirming it, Star was in a relationship... with someone else. Tom felt awful, wondering if he really had lost Star for good, her words from before still stinging.

Janna, once again, snapped him out of his despairing thoughts as she punched him lightly in the shoulder, the boy rubbing at his arm, while looking at her quizzically. "Jeez calm down," Janna said, shaking her head in disbelief at his behavior. "Don't be such a drama queen. Star still cares about you, okay? She's just a little sore at you right now is all, she'll come around."

"Yeah well I'm getting a little tired of waiting," Tom replied, honestly. The hot-headed teen let out a defeated sigh, saying exasperated, "So much for making up with her tonight." He started to walk off, about to open a portal back to the Underworld. "I'm going home." But he was stopped when Janna suddenly grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back toward her.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Tom asked the smirking girl, trying to ignore the fact that she still had yet to release her hold of his arm.

Janna shrugged. "Well, since you don't have anymore plans for tonight, would you like to dance?" Tom gulped, feeling suddenly nerve-racked, caught off guard by the question. He opened his dry mouth, preparing to turn her down, but he stopped, able to tell how badly she wanted him to say yes. Though she was trying to act nonchalant, Tom sensed a second of anxiety from the girl, as her brown pupils flashed her desperation to him, squeezing his arm tighter and tighter as she awaited his answer. It seemed Janna had exposed her true self to him just then, the boy unable to think of a time when she hadn't hidden behind her cocky, joking mask.

He wanted to see more of that Janna, for some reason the boy badly wishing to know more about the girl, wanting to know everything he could about the Impure, thoughts of her often plaguing his mind whenever he wasn't paying attention. So he swallowed down all his worries and nerves, trying to calm his racing heart and simmer his flaming cheeks, as he flashed her a cocky, flirty smile replying, "Sure, why not? What harm could one dance do?"

…

Jak and Dex, who had been assigned to watch the hallway just outside of the ballroom that night, were chatting happily with one another, when they heard footsteps approaching from down the hallway, both going silent. They turned and watched as two young fancily dressed teens approached, the red light of the blood moon shining into the hallway through the windows, casting a strange glow within. The guards instantly recognized both of them as Jackie and Marco, the two wearing the same outfits from the Orphan's Ball, Marco still wearing the mask from before.

"Hey Jackie!" Jak greeted, both guards smiling at the girl.

"Hey," she replied, with a smooth smile. Then suddenly, she shifted her attention to the masked boy beside her who was keeping oddly quiet. Jak and Dex also turned to Marco, who was keeping his head down. They were confused by the boy's behavior, worried he was upset about something, until they looked back over to Jackie for a second, who shot them a wink, both suddenly understanding what was going on.

"And who's this strange masked boy you brought with you?" Jak asked, pretending to put on a suspicious face, Dex doing the same. "I don't think we've ever seen him before."

Marco immediately pulled the mask up revealing his smiling face, his suns spinning endlessly due to his excitement. "No Jak, it's me! Marco!" he exclaimed giddily.

Both guards did fake gasps. "Marco?" Dex said in mock surprise.

"Yep," Marco said, with a short nod. He leaned a little bit closer to the two, before asking, "Did I really trick you both?"

"You sure did," Jak said. "We had no idea it was you."

Marco immediately turned to Jackie, his body shaking with unparalleled excitement. "It worked, Jackie! They couldn't tell it was me!"

"Yep, good for you Marco," Jackie praised, holding back her giggle. She then directed her attention back to the two guards, saying, "I'm surprised to see you two here. Don't you guys ever take a night off?"

"Yeah, but Skullnick wanted to make sure there was extra security during the ball, just in case," Dex explained.

"Just in case, what?" Marco asked, curiously.

Dex shrugged. "No idea," he admitted.

Jackie and Marco shared a look of concern. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure it's probably nothing," Jak comforted not wanting the two to worry over anything on the special night. "You know how paranoid old Skullsy can be."

Jackie and Marco nodded, both looking relieved. "Well as long as you two are sure," Jackie said.

"Positive," Dex said, convincingly. "You two just enjoy your night, let us worry about the rest."

"Oh we definitely will," Marco said, with a curt nod, his voice regaining its full excitement. "It's my first date with Star!" he blurted, his eyes shimmering with love and joy in equal measures.

"Congrats!" Jak commended, shooting the boy a smile.

"Glad you two kids ended up together!" Dex added, equally thrilled.

"Thanks!" Marco said returning the smile. He then immediately grabbed Jackie's arm, his patience finally worn out, as he shouted, "Now come on, Jackie! Let's go find Star!"

"Alright," she said with a giggle, allowing the eager boy to lead her into the ballroom, Jak and Dex opening the doors for the two of them. Marco stared in awe at the ballroom's transformation, taking off the mask so he could get a better look, the Orphan's Ball having nothing on the sight before them. The lights had been muted to a low glow, red spotlights shining down on random spots in the ballroom and the whole area had been decorated to perfection, red ribbons circling the pillars that surrounded the ballroom. And, in keeping in theme with the blood moon, small crescent moons hung on strings around the ballroom. It seemed whoever had been hired to make ready for the ball had outdone themselves.

"Wow it looks incredible in here!" Marco whispered.

"Thanks," Jackie agreed simply, still soaking in the view, looking over her work with satisfaction.

Marco turned back to his friend with surprise. " _You_ did this, Jacks!" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Jackie replied modestly. "Well, me and Janna both. Took us all day to get everything ready. But we wanted your night to be extra special."

Marco gave his friend a heartfelt smile. "Thank you so much, Jackie! I-I don't know what to say!" Jackie noticed the tears beginning to well up in his eyes and gave him a friendly push.

"Aww, don't mention it, dude. No need to get teared up it isn't that big a deal."

Marco wiped a hand over his eyes before saying, "Right, sorry. I just can't believe how much work you put into all this! I mean we hadn't even thought about this being our first date till you suggested it, but this... this is perfect!"

Jackie smiled at her friend. "I thought you might like it."

But Marco's attention had wavered as he looked back across the crowded ballroom hoping to catch a flash of golden hair. "There sure are a lot of people I hope we find Star soon," he commented, looking a little concerned.

"Don't worry I'm sure we will. We just gotta start looking," Jackie comforted, as she put an arm around him, leading him into the crowd of Mewman nobility, Marco remembering to slip back on the mask at the last minute. Marco kept a vigilant eye open for Star as they made their way across the ballroom, his eyes constantly scanning for any sign of the beautiful blond or Janna. Though he was quite surprised by some of the guests he saw. While most were simply Mewmans or humans there were the few odd looking creatures. A girl with a giant red lump on the side of her head, some goat guy with bat wings, and... Marco blinked, was that a chicken with legs.

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, Jackie pushed him away from her, now holding him at shoulder length, breaking him away from the strange sight, as he now came face to face with a far more beautiful one. Star gave him a breathtaking smile, her face just inches away from his own, her whole face perfectly framed by the soft red glow from the spotlight above and Marco felt his heart leap out of his chest. "Hey," she greeted shyly, her cheeks turning slightly pink, though it was hard to tell from the lighting.

"Hey," he replied back in an awed murmur, his cheeks equally flushed, though his were hidden under the mask.

"Well he's all yours," Jackie said, as she released her grip on his tensed up shoulders, the boy's whole body relaxing as he looked into the bright eyes of his girlfriend. "I did my part."

"Thanks Jacks," Star said, breaking away her gaze from Marco for just a second as she shot her friend a grateful smile.

"You look great," Star complimented the boy, looking his fancy suit up and down for a second.

"Uhhh, so do you," Marco said in embarrassment, having been too entranced in Star's unearthly beauty to have realized that now was the part where he was supposed to say nice things about her. That, plus, this was his first date and he was still unsure how this was supposed to go, even after Jackie and Janna's three hour lecture on the subject.

"Thanks," Star said, looking at her feet for a second, her hand absentmindedly fiddling with one of the pink bows that made up the lace of the dress. She leaned forward so she could whisper into his ear. "For the record, I never told you this, but the mask is a nice touch," she added and Marco felt a shudder run up his spine as she gently kissed him on the cheek as she pulled away.

"It was Jackie's idea," Marco confessed, gesturing to the skater girl behind him, but never breaking off his gaze from Star. "Well Janna's the first time, but Jackie said I should wear it again for this."

"And it looks like I was right," Jackie spoke up. "She can't take her eyes off of you," she added, with a teasing wink despite the fact that neither were looking in her direction.

"True," Star said, with a loving sigh, just adoring the boy in front of her in every way.

Jackie looked around for a second realizing something was missing. "Uhhh, Star, where is Janna? I thought she was with you."

"Huh?" Star blinked, snapping herself out of the daze she was in from staring into Marco's chocolate brown eyes. She looked around, expecting the creepy girl to be there beside her, but surprised to find she wasn't. "She was here a minute ago," she said, frowning as she looked over the crowd in search of her.

Jackie released a frustrated sigh. "Where did she run off to this time?" Jackie murmured, concerned what kind of trouble her roommate could have gotten herself into on her own. She had to squint so she could see as the lights dimmed even more, a gentle melody beginning to fill the area, as the next dance of the evening began. "She swore she would behave herself."

"Uhh, isn't that her over there?" Marco asked, pointing to the dance floor. The two girls followed his direction, both of their mouths dropping open in shock as they spotted Janna, her arms draped around Tom's neck, his hands holding onto her sides as he guided her in a elegant dance across the dance floor.

"That traitor," Star huffed in annoyance. "I can't believe she is dancing with that jerk!" Star's cheeks puffed up in anger.

Jackie pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. "We're all doomed," she said uncharacteristically serious, certain there was no way this would end well for anyone.

Meanwhile, Marco's eyes were twinkling as he watched the two, both looking quite happy and comfortable in each others arms, their eyes locked in a permanent flirty gesture. "Awww, they're so cute together!" Marco gushed, Star and Jackie turning to him in surprise.

"What?" they both said, confused.

"Well I mean, just look at how happy Janna is," Marco explained. "I don't think I've ever seen her smile so much, ever."

And as the two looked back at Janna and her long-time crush, they too noticed how happy their creepy friend seemed, as she allowed herself to be led across the dance floor by the hot-headed prince, a bright, almost infectious smile on her lips. They both had known she had feelings for Tom, but the two thought it was nothing more than a small crush, nothing serious. Sure she often openly flirted with him, but the two had mistaken that for mere teasing, just a way to get under his skin and annoy him, nothing more. Now though it seemed pretty apparent that she felt more for him than they had previously thought, a lot more. It seemed their little Janna had fallen for Tom, right under their noses, and both were a little ashamed they had never noticed, Janna doing a little too good a job hiding her emotions from people sometimes. Kinda the exact opposite of Tom, actually.

"Yeah, me neither," Jackie finally agreed with Marco, feeling a swell of pride for her friend.

Star just sighed. "Well, at least she _is_ enjoying herself," she murmured, crossing her arms, trying to continue to act mad even though she thought they were pretty adorable together, too. _And this way I don't have to worry about Tom trying to get in the way of me and Marco's date,_ she thought. With that thought her smile returned, as she was determined to let nothing get in the way of her big night. She had been through a lot to get to this moment, saving Marco from Toffee, helping create a new world for Monsters and Mewmans, forcing her feet to squeeze into the very uncomfortable boots she was currently wearing, and she planned on making the most of her night, going to enjoy her first date with Marco to the fullest. She turned back to her boyfriend, offering him a hand, not wanting to waste another second.

"Okay then, Marco, let's get going," Star said, excitedly.

"Right," Marco said with a nod. He took Star's outstretched hand ready to begin their date. "Oh wait," Marco suddenly said, reaching into one of his pockets and pulling out the small black cellphone Star had recently bought for him, the particular one he had chosen had the design of a dinosaur wearing a birthday hat on the back of it, which the boy had mistaken for a dragon when he had first seen it. "I promised dad and the others I would take some pictures of the date to send to them," he explained. "That way that wouldn't feel totally left out."

"Awww, what a great idea, Marco!" Star praised.

"Thanks!" Marco replied with a smile, holding back his blush as he focused his concentration at the phone in his hands, the screen lit up and ready for use. But the boy's smiling face quickly switched to one of concentration and confusion as he tried to figure out how to use the device, his eyebrows pinching together as he squinted at the bright screen. "Umm, how do you..." he mumbled, turning the phone over in his hands looking for the button that made it work and Star and Jackie both had to bite their lips to keep from bursting out into laughter at his adorable naivety.

"Here," Jackie finally said, taking the phone out of his hands. "Maybe let me take the pictures," she offered.

Marco released a relieved sigh, still quite confused by all the technology and electricity stuff, before giving his friend a grateful smile. "Okay. Thanks, Jacks."

"Ready?" she said, letting them in position, holding up the phone in preparation for the right moment, Marco and Star both smiling, Star clinging tightly to the boy's arm. "Smile," she said. There was a click and a small flash from the phone as the picture was taken.

"Let me see! Let me see!" the boy immediately screamed, practically jumping up and down with enthusiasm.

Jackie laughed, before turning the phone around so he could see the picture. "Wowwww," he breathed, Marco's eyes shimmering at the sight of him and Star together, nodding his head in approval. "We look amazing!" he cheered. Star just smiled at her boyfriend/bestie's excitement.

"Yeah, you're right," Star agreed, resting her head on his shoulder for a second, as she stared at the phone screen. "We should probably get some more, though. Y'know, just to be safe."

"Right," Marco agreed.

He and Star posed for several more pictures, as Jackie spent the next couple of minutes taking photos of them, trying to get the perfect set to send to Buff Frog and the rest of the Monsters, sometimes directing them on where to stand or tell them to try a certain pose. The two fell into a giggle fit as Jackie finished taking a picture of them doing their 'stuck inside a creature's belly and were slowly drowning in its toxic stomach acid' pose (which had been Star's suggestion), the couple making fake dying noises as they leaned against one another dramatically.

Jackie laughed at their cute display, before saying, "Well I think that's probably enough, right?"

Star stood up straight again as she said, "Yeah, that's probably good."

"So should I send hit send or..." Jackie asked, her finger already poised over the send button.

"Wait," Marco said quickly, holding up a hand to stop her. "We still need one more..." He held up a single finger. "Just to be safe."

Jackie and Star shared a look. "Of course," Jackie said, nodding.

"Just to be safe," Star added.

"What did you have in mind, Marco?" Jackie asked.

"Well, I kinda wanted one with you in it," Marco explained. Jackie's cheeks blushed, surprised by the request.

"Me?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah of course, you're my friend after all," the masked boy said, matter-of-factly. "And we wouldn't be here without you. I would ask Janna but..." he gestured back to the dance floor, where her and Tom continued to dance, along with several other couples. "Y'know."

"Okay, then," Jackie said, excitedly. "Let's do it."

The three friends got into position, Marco wrapping his arms around their necks, as the two leaned in as close to him as they could, their cheeks close to touching, Jackie holding the phone out above them, her finger poised on the button. "Ready..."

Like all the other times there was a click and a snap as the picture was taken, the three pulling away and looking at the picture on the tiny screen. "That one turned out great," Jackie said, proudly.

"Yep, it sure did, they all look great, good work Jacks," Star agreed hastily, before grabbing onto Marco's arm already dragging him away. "Now come on, Marco, let's get going!"

"Bye Jacks! See you later! And be sure to send those to Buff Frog and the others for me, okay?" Marco called back to Jackie as he was dragged away, not that he minded.

"Will do!" Jackie called back, chuckling to herself as she watched the young couple eagerly begin their first date together, shaking her head. "Those two never change," she murmured to herself. Her gaze slowly drifted back to the dance floor, watching Tom and Janna's graceful, if not flirtatious, dance for a second, before a thought came over her. "Kinda wish I had someone to dance with."

"Fear not, gorgeous, cause your knight in shining armor has arrived," a familiar, cocky voice called behind her, Jackie turning to glare at the same stuck-up jerk from the Orphan's Ball. The teen froze, as he recognized the girl in front of him, a look of fear crossing his face, as he hands instinctively shot up. "You again," he squeaked, in a very unmanly voice.

"Just keep moving, hotshot," Jackie hissed and the boy slowly backed away, keeping his hands raised the whole time, the skater girl just watching him go with an intense glare. Once he was out of sight, Jackie returned her attention to the dance floor. She was silent for a moment before saying to herself, "On second thought, I think I'm good."

…

While most of Mewni had the pleasure of enjoying the magical night there were two knights who felt left out of all the celebrating, assigned to watch the most boring position in the castle, the lush garden area within the castle grounds, pointlessly watching the door that led to the ballroom. There really was no reason for them to be out there, unsure why Skullnick had specifically asked them to keep an eye on this particular position, since the anti-portal generator had been fixed, there was no chance of anyone appearing into the castle unsupervised. Which is why, as the muted sounds of orchestra music drifted through the doorframe behind them, the two knights were left wondering how they had been left with this measly position when it should have been passed down to a couple of simple guards.

One of them released a tired sigh, shifting uncomfortably on his feet, before asking between clenched teeth, "What are we doing out here?"

"I couldn't tell you," the other replied, equally annoyed.

"It isn't fair," the first one grumbled.

"No it certainly isn't. We should be home with our families, not doing the work of those lazy guards because General Skullsy is still paranoid about the Monsters attacking again."

"Exactly! I promised the wife that we would watch the blood moon together, instead I'm stuck here with you, bored out of my mind."

"Yeah, I'd much rather be fighting Monsters again, than this. Nothing ever happens here."

As soon as those words had left the inconvenienced knight's mouth, the two suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching... very loud footprints, as it seemed the universe was intent on proving him wrong. The two immediately went on high alert, returning to their training, as they drew their swords, staring at the dark woods with intimidating stares. "Who's there?"

"Show yourself."

Suddenly, a large something stepped out of the shadows. He towered over the two, at least a foot taller than either knights, but they showed no fear toward the stranger's looming presence. The two couldn't tell if the shadowed figure was a Mewman, Monster, or what... his whole body wrapped up tight in a thick black cloak, giving him a mysterious and suspicious air. This was increased greatly as the two were confused over how the stranger had entered into the lush garden in the heart of the Butterfly Castle. They held their swords out toward the black-clothed figure, one of them hissing, "This area is off-limits to civilians! Raise your hands and drop any weapons you may be concealing!"

But the creature didn't obey, instead taking a step toward the knights. The two tried not to show their sudden burst of fear as the unknown creature stalked closer, keeping their swords raised, their faces set in hard glares.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" one of them warned with a threatening yell. But the stranger never stopped coming, continuing forward with confident strides, his footsteps echoing off the stone-castle walls, creating an unnerving tone to the increasingly anxious knights, the swords beginning to shake in their grip.

Finally, one of them screamed, lunging toward the figure, preparing to run him through. But in half a second the sword was knocked out of his hand, as the figures arm- or claw (the knight hadn't been able to tell he moved so fast) was knocked out of his hands, pain shooting up his arm, the knight half-afraid this creature had broken it with a mere bat of his hand. The knight clutched onto his aching arm, trying not to cry out in pain, as he took a step back, away from the hostile stranger.

He gritted his teeth at the figure, who had actually stopped walking for a second, just staring at them from the depths of his hood, the knight surprised as he saw a single yellow serpent-like eye flashing from the darkness within and he felt his blood run cold. He risked turning to the other knight as he shouted, "Alert the general! There's a Mon-"

But the knight wasn't given a chance to finish, as the figure suddenly lunged forward with ridiculous speed, the unsuspecting knight never even aware of the attack, as the creature struck him in the back of the head, the world disappearing in a swirl of nauseating colors. The unconscious knight fell against the stone steps with a resounding _thud_ , his partner frozen in fear at how easily this stranger had taken out his highly-trained friend. The figure merely stepped over the knight and continued forward, now stalking closer to his remaining target.

The knight tried not to show his fear, as the black-clothed figure came ever closer, his heart pounding away in his chest. Finally, he recovered enough to move, turning as he was about to run back into the castle to fulfill his rushed order. But he never got the chance, as something grabbed onto his collar, slamming him hard into the wall, the Mewman falling unconscious at the figures feet a second later, his sword clattering against the stone floor. For a few tense seconds, the only sound that could be heard was the chilling ring of the blade as it echoed off the stone steps.

Until finally, the figure feeling the coast was clear and no one had heard the short struggle, opened the door and entered into Butterfly Castle.

…

Jackie leaned against the railing overlooking the ballroom, having decided to climb up to the balcony above, wanting to get a good look on what was going on at the party without being disturbed by all the stuck-up royals that waited below. Though Jackie did appreciate Star for inviting her to the event and knew that her and Marco would have a good time there, this just wasn't her scene, the skater chick much preferring to spend her time with people a bit more on her level, feeling a bit out of place amongst the fancy, important guests.

She did take a moment to admire how great the place looked, though, her hard work paying off well it seemed, the place looking both festive and elegant at the same time. _Maybe I should think about being an interior decorator if the skating career doesn't work ou_ t, she thought jokingly to herself. But Jackie's attention was drawn back to the dance floor, as the music suddenly drifted off, the musicians having finished their current piece, the dance ending. But just as suddenly as it stopped, the next song began, as the musicians finished their seconds of rest, picking back up their instruments and beginning the next melody in their set, this one sounding not that different from the last, Jackie feeling all of the music sounded too similar, all of it elegant, orchestrated, and slow. Several couples pulled apart and bowed to each other, before walking off the dance floor, ready to call it quits for at least a while and let their aching feet rest, as more eager young dates took their place. But there were two young teens who seemed to be in no hurry to leave, as they just continued their dance, staring deep into each others eyes, Jackie not sure if they had even realized the music had changed.

The skater girl shook her head at her roommate and her crushing dance partner. "Well, they haven't managed to cause a panic..." she muttered to herself. "...yet," she added, regretfully, knowing that couldn't last. So she just tried to enjoy the peace while she could.

Her eyes slowly drifted across the crowd looking now for Star and Marco, hoping to see the progress on their date. Finally, she spotted them, close to the dance floor, and she smiled. _So far so good_ , she thought. She pulled out her phone, checking the time. The blood moon would be in position in just a few minute now and Jackie crossed her fingers, hoping Star and Marco would be the ones to be caught in its glow, the plan being to use that to strengthen their already inseparable bond. If all continued to go smoothly, then she would be not only twenty bucks richer but would have proven Janna wrong... and also of course her two best friends would be that much closer as a couple.

...

"So what are we gonna do first?" Marco asked Star as the two stopped to eat some snacks from the refreshments table, watching the dancing couples and talking like they always did, their hands intertwined. Now that the date was officially started he had no idea what they were supposed to do, hoping Star had some kind of idea. "Do you wanna dance or..."

"Actually, I wanted to show you something," Star said, shooting him a smile, a hint of mischievousness hidden in her eyes.

"Like what?" Marco asked, his curiosity already peeked.

"It's a secret," she said, putting a finger to her lips and winking at him.

"A secret," he whispered, his voice shaking a little with excitement, as the anticipation started to build inside him.

"Yep," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before pulling him after her, heading for their unknown destination. "Follow me."

Marco kept up pace with the girl as they raced across the large ballroom in a hurry, several guests having to move out of the way to let the young couple pass.

…

Jackie was surprised as the two moved away from the dance floor, the pair now racing across the ballroom, hand in hand, bright smiles on their faces, as they pushed their way through the crowd and she herself smiled at their eagerness. _Wonder where they're headed?_ She thought, considering following them. The blood moon would in position soon and if they weren't on the dance floor when that happened then they might not be chosen, it could ruin her whole plan. Then again, this was their first date and she didn't want to disturb them on the special occasion, figuring Star had some kind of plan of her own up her sleeve, one that probably would still lead to them still inevitably dancing under the light of the blood red moon. So, Jackie decided to trust Star and give her and Marco their space.

She allowed her eyes to drift away from the two, looking for something else to occupy her mind until the main dance of the night began, when her eyes landed on a peculiar sight. It was a large figure, his whole body hidden in a thick, black cloak making him look suspicious and exposed amongst the bright and colorful suits and ballgowns the rest of the guests had on. He definitely stood out like a sore thumb, keeping close to the edges and least populated areas of the ballroom to probably try to attract as little attention as possibly. Jackie wondered how he had gone unseen by the rest of the guests and had yet to be interrogated by the knights considering how much on high alert they had seemed to be. Jackie had a bad feeling about the mysterious figure, something about him just feeling off, more so than just his bizarre appearance. So she concluded to keeping a close watch on him, see where he was going and what he was up to.

…

Once Star and Marco got close to Star's surprise, the princess had her masked bestie close his eyes, guiding him the rest of the way, his hand remaining trapped in hers. Finally they reached their destination, Star stopping and Marco accidentally bumping into her back, but made sure to keep his eyes closed until she said, not wanting to spoil the surprise.

"Okay Marco," Star said, watching him intensely for his reaction. "You can open your eyes now."

Marco immediately obeyed, excited to see what surprise Star had in store for him, but his joy switched to confusion as he looked at the large painting of a sailor. "Ohh, it's a... painting?" he said, trying not to sound ungrateful. He cocked his head to the side, before giving his girlfriend a quizzical look. "Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Not exactly," Star said, with hidden meaning in her voice. "The truth is there is a secret behind this painting. One you can't tell anyone, okay?" She gave him a very serious look, once again putting a finger to her lips.

Marco's face switched to one of determination, as he nodded, quickly looking back and forth to make sure no one was watching.

"Good," Star said satisfied, before turning back to the painting. She reaching behind the large frame, lifting it up enough to reveal a hidden room behind the massive picture.

"Wow!" Marco exclaimed, before immediately covering his mouth, blushing at his mistake. He once again did a short scan at the party guests and was relieved that he hadn't attracted any attention. He stepped closer, peeking around the frame at the tunnel that lied within. "A hidden room. So cool," he whispered in disbelief. Marco turned back to Star. "Where does it lead?" he asked, looking at her quizzically.

"Well that's the surprise," she responded and Marco's eyes shined with intrigue. The boy didn't even hesitate as he entered into the passage, Star following right after, lowering the heavy object back into place once they were both through, masking their presence within.

…

After watching the cloaked stranger very slowly make his way across the ballroom, still trying to figure out what was so weird about him, Jackie started to notice something off about the way he walked. On first glance, he seemed like he was wandering aimlessly, but their were some tell-tale signs that he was moving with purpose, heading off in a very specific direction. It almost seemed like he was stalking someone. And the fact that he seemed to be watching something intensely only helped add to her theory. Jackie frowned, deciding to follow his gaze to see what had so eagerly captured his attention, but her heart stopped and her body went cold as she spotted Star and Marco, now standing by a large painting.

 _No, it couldn't be,_ Jackie thought, her eyes drifting back to the stranger. But now there was no mistaking it, he was following her friends, keeping at a safe distance so as not to be spotted, but his eyes must have never once left them, the two too distracted in each other to notice the sinister presence stalking near. She had to warn them, save them, do something. She couldn't let anything bad happen to the two. She quickly ran back downstairs, going to try and warn some guards or knights and, of course her two besties of the dark presence that everyone was oblivious was now present at the event.

But once she got downstairs, she realized she had somehow lost sight of both the figure and Star and Marco. She tried to remain calm, taking deep, slow breaths as she pulled out her cellphone, turning on the bright screen.

…

Tom had never felt happier, never known the emotion that now washed over him as he and Janna continued on with their dance, caught in their blissful oblivion, the girl's close presence almost more than he could take. His whole body was tingling, his mind numb as Janna clung to him. He could feel her fast pulse from against him and he felt the sensation strangely calming. She never once looked away from him, her brown orbs a strange mix of longing and curiosity and all at once he was tempted to lean down and kiss her, wondering what she tasted like. He felt his cheeks heat up at the thought, the area burning even more than normal as his cheeks were stuck in a constant state of simmer. Though what he didn't know was that they had taken the shape of a flaming heart, Janna just smiling mischievously at her little secret.

She pulled him in a little closer, resting his forehead against hers, her lips almost tauntingly close to his and he knew, by the look in her eyes, it had to be intentional, as she seemed to almost be daring him to do it. Tom gulped, unable to think of the last person who had dared to get this close to him, most too frightened of him to even try, but then, that was Janna, always taking risks and breaking down the barriers he had unintentionally set up without a second thought. How did she always manage to do this to him, what was it about her that turned him into such a blushing, flustered mess?

Without knowing it, he moved in closer to her, his lips reaching out for hers. She was infuriating, always so strange and unpredictable, teasing him when he least expected it and always with that smug smile on her face... that darling, adorable smile. She was different from the others, they all treated him like he was some freak, though they tried to hide it, but she never looked at him that way, she looked at him as if he were just another guy, like he was her friend.

He was getting closer, able to feel her breath against his skin. This was stupid, he didn't like her, did he? Did she like him, was this her attempt to get him or was this just another trick he was falling for? At any second now she was going to flick his face and then laugh at his naivety. Or maybe she did want him to kiss her and this would become his first kiss. But he wasn't sure if it mattered either way. That was just Janna, she was unpredictable, he could never tell what she was going to do or say and that just made him like her all the more.

But just as their lips were about to brush, Tom heard a ringing sound, the sound shattering the perfect moment, as he released an unmanly squeak.

Janna pulled away from Tom and the hot-headed boy felt a rush of regret and sadness, as his dance partner pulled out her phone, checking something, her face for just a second looking worried. She looked back at the boy, who was trying not to show his annoyance over the interruption. "Sorry, something just came up, gotta go," she said, starting to pull away, but Tom grabbed her arm, holding her in place for a second. "Now wait just a minute!" he said, confused and angered. "What about our dance?!" Tom asked, his voice a startled squeak.

"Well we'll just have to do it again, sometime," she said, giving him a flirty wink. Then out of nowhere, she leaned in, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, Tom releasing her arm as he put a hand to his blushing cheek. "I had a great time," she said, before racing away, Tom just watching her wide-eyed, not sure what to think or feel, still unable to believe that that had really just happened to him. But he was thankful no one was watching as a small smile slowly graced his lips. That was before his annoyance resurfaced, realizing Janna had just ditched him, huffing, as he stomped after the girl.

…

"Got your message," Janna said, coming up behind Jackie, the skater surveying the crowd, looking for something. "So what's the big emergency with our crushing lovebirds?"

"Well they... wait, I never told you it was about Star and Marco," Jackie pointed out, her attention directed to the creepy girl for a moment, as she raised an eyebrow for being able to guess right so easily.

Janna shrugged. "It's always Star and Marco," Janna said simply. "Anyways, it has to be something more important than just awkward date stuff if you interrupted my moment with Tom." There was slight annoyance in her tone and Jackie gave her a sheepish frown, before she went back to looking around.

"Right sorry," the skater girl said, still slightly distracted. "But yeah, it's a lot worse. I saw some guy in a black cloak following them around."

Janna looked unsettled at that, unable to mask her concern, but she still asked, "Did he do anything?"

"No, but... I have this really bad feeling. I think Star and Marco are in danger."

"Well then why didn't you go and warn them, first, then go get me?"

"I lost track of them! I can't find them anywhere!"

"Well, did you try calling them?"

Jackie shook her head. "No point. I have Marco's phone and Star left hers in her room."

"Great," Janna deadpanned. She thought for a second, before asking, "Well where did you see them last? Maybe we can track them from there."

"Ummm," Jackie hummed thoughtfully, before she pointed off in a direction. "Over by some old painting."

"Wait." Janna leaned in closer, giving her an intense glare, causing Jackie to turn back to her in surprise. "Did you say a painting?"

"Yeah."

"Did it have an old sailor guy on it?"

"Think so."

Janna nodded, a confident smile on her face. "I know where they are."

…

Marco kept close to Star as the two traversed the large spiraling staircase, feeling a little uneasy in the dimly lit area. And the further up they went the worse Marco felt, as the familiar tings of dread clung to him, surfacing recent, unwanted memories. It wasn't the first time he had been plagued by the horrid thoughts since the incident, but this one felt far more real than before. Suddenly, he was back in Toffee's lair, being ruthlessly dragged through the dark underground, Marco helpless as he was taken further and further away from Star and the others. A ghost of an ache appeared in his hand and he rubbed at the spot, remembering feeling the backlash of Toffee's tail as it painfully lashed out at him.

He tried to keep his calm, reminding himself that was in the past. Master Toffee was dead, he couldn't hurt him anymore. He was safe now. He was with Star. But he began having trouble breathing, as if he was being chocked by his own dread. That or Toffee had come back from the grave to get his revenge.

"Marco?" The masked boy jumped at the voice, before he looked over at the blond beauty, who was giving him a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Marco said unconvincingly, giving her a tight smile, unaware that he was still rubbing at his wrist. "What would make you ask that?"

"Well you're breathing pretty heavily, is something the matter?"

Marco paused for a second, before telling her the truth. "I-It's just that... this place kinda reminds me of, y'know, when Master To- I mean Toffee kidnapped me is all," he admitted, trying to sound nonchalant but Star could hear the strain in his voice.

Star gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Marco," Star apologized, guilt evident in her tone. "I didn't even think about that. Do you want to turn back or-"

"No, no," Marco said, quickly, brushing the thought off. "I'll be fine. I want to see the surprise."

Star was silent for a moment, watching the boy intensely. Though his expressions were hard to make out through the mask, Star could tell he was still anxious, his hands twitching at his side and his breathing still a little erratic. So, she gently took his hands in hers, giving them an affectionate squeeze. When his eyes locked with hers, she gave him a comforting smile, before saying softly, "Then just keep hold of my hand, okay? It shouldn't be too much farther, but if you feel scared, just remember that I'm here for you."

Marco smiled, his eyes shimmering, and he nodded, Star's touch filling him with bravery. Once he seemed calm again, Star released one of his hands, leading him through the rest of the way as quickly as she could, Marco just following right after her, keeping his focus on Star's back and listening to the steady echo of their footsteps, refusing to think about the past, concentrating instead on right then and there. For a second, though, he thought he heard a third set of footprints echoing, but decided it was just paranoia and shrugged the thought aside.

Suddenly, Star came to a stop as they reached the top of the staircase, reaching an old, wooden trapdoor in the ceiling above them. Star smiled. "We're here," she said, before opening the door hatch, helping the excited Marco climb up through the entrance, before following after him.

Marco gaped in awe at the sight before him, as he stood on one of the tallest towers in the castle. It seemed to be an old observation tower, showing the expanse of Mewni from its height and the sight of the sleepy kingdom below and the beautiful star-filled sky lit up red by the glow of the moon was truly a sight to behold. But while the sight was fantastic and unlike anything Marco had ever experienced before, this wasn't what caused Marco's eyes to well up with tears. That was the small little picnic blanket that had been set up for them, a romantic dinner laying out on it, complete with already lit candles which glowed pink, probably made special for that night. Marco turned to Star, the girl giving him a wide, loving smile. "Did you- Is this- This is-is," Marco stuttered, at a loss for words, just so touched Star had gone through all that trouble for him, staring at the little dinner in silence.

Star put her arms around the boy neck, hugging him from behind, drawing him closer allowing their cheek to touch, both lighting up for a second. "Well we wanted our first date to be special," Star explained, both of their eyes locked on the picnic. "And since we've already danced once before, I wanted this to be different. So I found out about this tower that had been blocked off years ago and I thought that would be absolutely perfect!" She paused for a moment, staring intently at the masked boy's covered face. "Do you like it?" she asked, biting her lip, slightly worried.

"Are you kidding? I love it!" he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek against hers. "Thank you, Star!"

Star breathed a sigh of relief, releasing her hold on the boy's neck. "Oh I'm so glad you love it, it took forever to bring everything up here," she said, rolling her eyes.

Marco started to giggle and Star joined in. "It's perfect, Star," he said, shooting her one of those cute signature smiles that just made Star melt.

"Thanks," she said, her voice squeaking against her will. "Then let's eat, we have to be back before the blood moon waltz starts."

The two sat, hand in hand, as they ate the delicious meal, Marco taking off his mask to make eating easier. Nachos, the perfect romantic dinner (in their opinion) as they shared the somehow still warm treat, talking and laughing and just enjoying each others company for what felt like hours. Time seemed to pass slowly as the two became engrossed in one another, sharing a kiss here and there.

Once the food was all gone and the two were properly stuffed, Star moved closer, resting her head on the boy's shoulder, and they both sighed, feeling happy and content, as they just watched the stars in silence, caught up in the beautiful, perfect moment.

But, like all good things, the moment came to an end, as Star noticed the moon was nearly at its peak, realizing that the big dance of the night would start any minute. "Oh no," she said, sitting up, Marco giving her a confused look. "The dance is gonna start soon," she explained and Marco gasped, immediately jumping to his feet.

"Then we better hurry!" Marco exclaimed, offering Star a hand up. She smiled and allowed the boy to pull her to her feet.

But as the two turned to leave, they both gasped in shock at the large figure standing on the tower with them, his features hidden under a thick, black cloak of some sort. He just watched them in silence, making the two feel instantly ill at ease. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was also blocking them off from the only exit, the trapdoor still opened wide, meaning he had been able to sneak up behind them, completely unheard. And it was either Mewmans' guess how long he had been watching them, making them both feel quite creeped out.

"Who are you?" Star asked, trying to keep the terror out of her voice, as she moved protectively in front of Marco, shielding him from the unknown stranger. The young royal was now really wishing she had brought her wand with her, knowing it was still in her room, laying on the nightstand next to her mirror phone.

The figure took a single step forward, causing both Star and Marco to take a very abrupt one back. The mysterious stranger threw his hood back, revealing himself to the two and both teen's mouths dropped open, as they stared into the icy, dead eye of a large lizard Monster, one of his eyes missing and replaced with a red ruby gem. He pulled back his cloak as well, all of it resting on one of his shoulders, the two now able to see that his left arm was made out of some kind of high-tech metal and that, even more terrifyingly, he was currently holding a large chainsaw in it.

The lizard smiled sinisterly at their frightened and confused faces, saying in a gruff voice, "My name is Rasticore Chaosus Disastervaine."

"You're a... Monster," Marco whispered in disbelief.

"Very observant," Rasticore commented, sarcastically.

"What do you want from us?" Star asked, mentally scolding herself for allowing her voice to tremble a little.

"I am here because it is time for you to pay for your past misdeeds, Princess Star," he explained, with a cold smirk. He raised the chainsaw up menacingly, revving it a couple of times to try and frighten them more.

"Please, wait!" Star tried to plead, while moving Marco and herself as far away from the Monster as they could in the limited space of the tower. "You don't have to do this!"

"Yeah, the Monsters don't have to fight with the Mewmans anymore," Marco pitched in, hoping he could talk the Monster over to his side. "We're at peace now, thanks to Star. She's on your side." But Rasticore didn't seem fazed by the small speech, as he continued to give them a hard, determined glare, so Marco switched to a different tactic. "Look, you can trust me on this, I'm the son of Buff Frog, the new leader of the Monsters."

"I know who you are, Marco Diaz," the lizard replied, as he spat the boy's name. Marco gasped, never having heard anyone call him that before. _Diaz?_ Was that his last name? The word felt unfamiliar to him and yet... strangely right at the same time, as it echoed around his head for a moment. _Marco Diaz? His full, real name._

"And it makes no difference to me who you are," Rasticore continued, cutting into Marco's inner inquiries. "I was simply waiting for the moment when I could catch the princess alone, but since you seem eager to stay by her side, then you too, can share her fate."

"Look I'm sure whatever it is that the Mewmans did to wrong you, we can help resolve it," Star said, even knowing that there was little chance of a peaceful solution to this, hoping instead to stall him long enough to find a way out of this mess. She tried to discretely scan the area, but found nothing that could be of any use in escaping the vengeful Monster. The only options the two had was to jump or fight, neither option seeming like it would end particularly well. Still, if she could manage to hold him off long enough then maybe Marco could escape. But without her wand she didn't know if she could be any match for the lizard.

"I could care less about the affairs of Mewni," Rasticore snapped. "I am only here, because I was hired to capture Princess Star Butterfly."

Star and Marco were both taken aback by the revelation, Star asking in demand, "What?! Who hired you?! Another Monster?!"

But Rasticore didn't seem interested in answering, as he simply said, "That is none of your concern right now. Besides, you will both know what you are up against very soon." He tensed himself, ready to quickly overpower the two fancily-dressed teens, now being the perfect moment, both still fazed by his words, leaving them vulnerable and open. He was told not to underestimate the princess, hearing she was far craftier than she let on, but it seemed like she was not the great threat she had been built up as being, not without her wand at least. Of course, the boy was an unexpected development, but Rasticore was sure that capturing him too would work out in their favor. If anything they could use him to get the princess to cooperate if need be.

The lizard let out a battle cry about to lunge toward the two, both Star and Marco screaming, ducking and clinging to each other in anticipation. But their assailant was stopped as something pressed down hard against his tail, pinning Rasticore in place, as he instead almost clumsily fell to the ground. The lizard, feeling momentary confusion, turned around to see what could be preventing him from his catch. Only to find, to his surprise, a smirking Mewman girl stepping on his precious limb. "Oh, sorry, did I come at a bad time?" she asked, with fake sheepishness.

Star and Marco were both relieved to see their half-Monster friend as they shouted, "Janna!"

"Hey get off, brat!" Rasticore growled, swinging a claw at her, which she easily ducked, grabbing his arm at the last second.

"Gladly!" she said, finally pulling her leg off, before easily throwing him over her shoulder and down the opened trapdoor, Janna slamming it shut immediately afterward and locking it tight. The three heard screams and clatters as the Monster began falling down the long staircase, all of them watching the area cautiously. "Janna, thank goodness!" Star cried, throwing her arms around her friend in gratitude, Marco doing the same.

"You saved us!" Marco yelled as well, giving the girl a tight squeeze.

But Janna didn't take the time to enjoy the praise, hearing now only silence below. She quickly peeled the two off of her and pushed them behind her, as her body shifted to it's Monster form. "Not over yet," she said, seriously.

And it seemed Janna's instincts were correct, as a chainsaw began cutting through the trapdoor from beneath, slicing easily through the thin wood, before some kind of blast destroyed what was left of the door, the three covering their faces from the wood shavings and splinters that now rained down on them.

When the dust settled, they all watched as Rasticore easily hauled himself back up through the hole that was once the trapdoor, an angry gleam in his one eye. "You will pay for that!" he hissed as he did. But his anger switched to surprise as he spotted Janna's sudden change. "An Impure," he muttered. That was before a sinister smile widened on his face and he chuckled to himself. "Even better." He revved up the chainsaw menacingly. "Haven't killed one of those in a while."

"Hah," Janna laughed dryly, as Star and Marco backed away, giving her her space for the incoming fight. "Like you ever killed one of us with that tacky weapon," she said, pointing at the chainsaw with a roll of her eyes. "Seriously, that thing is like the loudest, most obnoxious weapon possible, what kind of an assassin are you?"

"The kind that is about to kill you," he shot back.

"Oh I bet you use that one on all the Impures," Janna said in a mock flirty tone, shooting him a wink. Star and Marco shared a look with one another, as the two opponents continued to taunt each other, back and forth. Though they were both glad that Janna was there (being the most capable fighter at the moment) and they had silently elected to let her handle the assassin, it did concern them that their half-Monster friend didn't seem to be taking this very seriously. She was acting like this was just another outing with her friends and not a life or death crisis that continued to spiral out of control around them. Then again, they figured it had become a bit of a recurring theme lately for them to be threatened by some dark force with evil intentions in store for them. The two teens wondered if that would ever change or if this would just become the norm for them.

Meanwhile, it seemed Rasticore had finally grown tired of Janna's incessant teasing as he growled darkly, "Enough. Quite stalling, Impure. Come and face me if you dare."

"Oh, all business, I see," Janna sighed in annoyance, rolling her eyes. "Alright then, if that's how it's going to be," she continued, getting down into a fighting stance with a smug, cocky grin on her face, Star and Marco doing the same from behind her. "But I feel I should warn you, you did just interrupt the greatest moment of my life, so don't expect me to go easy on you." Her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance.

Rasticore laughed harshly at that. "By all means, freak, don't hold back," he chuckled. Suddenly, though his tone became dark as he added, "I don't plan to."

"Okay then, big guy, let's dance," Janna said, the confidence just radiating off of her.

"Wait, I thought we were going to fight?" Marco asked in confusion, turning to Star with a quizzical look.

…

Jackie quickly made her way through the crowd, searching for any signs of King and Queen Butterfly. After a quick explanation from Janna about where Star and Marco had gone, the creepy girl had taken off to go try and help them out, while Jackie went to warn the royal monarchs about the danger their daughter was in. But so far she had had no luck in finding them, the normally level-headed skater growing frustrated that now, of all times, Star's parents had suddenly disappeared. She just hoped that whoever it was that was stalking Star hadn't gotten to them first.

To say Jackie was panicking by this point was wrong, she was far beyond panicked, though she tried to keep a blank face, not wanting to scare the other guests just yet. If mass panic broke out, she might have even more difficulty finding Star's parents. Plus, she was afraid to reveal to the intruder that his cover had been blown, otherwise who knows what he might end up doing to her two friends. No, it was better to do this as indiscreetly as possible.

"Hey Jackie!" The girl jumped, as a hand landed on her shoulder and she swerved on her heels far too fast. There she stared into the confused face of Ferguson, who was giving her a skeptical look, his hand raised in the air, awkwardly.

"Ferg?" Jackie said, her voice a startled squeak.

"Hey, something wrong?" Ferguson asked, a look of concern crossing his face.

Jackie took a quick deep breath, to calm herself, before she gave him one of her smooth smiles. "Nah, all good. You just startled me a little," she said, her voice regaining its signature coolness.

"Oh, okay," Ferg said, looking relieved. "So where's Marco? I've been wanting to say hi to him all night, but I've been having trouble getting away from the wife. You know how protective she can be towards me sometimes."

 _More like overbearing and jealous_ , Jackie thought, but of course didn't say it out loud. "Umm, he's with Star right now. They, uhh, wanted some time alone," Jackie said, instead.

"Oh, ho, ho, really," Ferg said, a knowing look on his face, looking quite proud of his friend. "So he did end up with Star. Good for Marco. I totally called that."

"Think everybody did," Jackie pointed out. But all she could think about was warning King and Queen Butterfly, her eyes still absentmindedly scanning the ballroom for them, feeling pressured to find them, knowing all three of her friends could be in great danger while she was making awkward small talk. So she tried to very politely and calmly back out of the conversation, saying, "Look, Ferguson, it's been nice talking and all, but I got somewhere to be. So I gotta go, sorry."

With that, she turned and walked away without another word, leaving Ferguson alone. "Huh, well that was strange," he muttered to himself.

"Ferguson!" a new voice yelled, a look of fear on the chubby king's face, as he instantly recognized the angry, high-pitched tone of his wife.

He turned to see the Pixie Empress glaring at him, her arms crossed as she seemed to be fuming with rage. "Oh hello, my love," he started, with a half-flirty, half-frightened smile.

"Were you just talking to another girl?" his 'lovely' wife asked, accusingly.

"Well, yes," Ferguson admitted sheepishly, before quickly adding, "But she's just a friend, I swear!"

The fairy queen huffed in irritation before grabbing her husband by the ear, dragging him away. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Ferguson repeated over and over again in pain, while his wife simply scolded him about his behavior.

"This is not acceptable. This night was supposed to be about us. Not you flirting with the first girl you come across. Honestly, first you sneaking out to go to some dirty peasant's ball and now this!"

"I'm sorry, my love! Ow! Whatever you say, my love!" Ferguson cried, hoping to calm his jealous wife.

Meanwhile, Jackie sighed, glad she had been able to duck out of that conversation quickly, now she could focus on finding-

"Jackie!" The skater girl groaned, as she recognized the boy yelling, turning to see Tom stomping over to her, looking as angry as ever. "Not now," she muttered to herself, still feeling rushed to find the royal monarchs.

"Have you seen Janna?" Tom asked, once he caught up to her.

"Tom, I'm kinda busy right now so-" Jackie started.

"That girl is so frustrating!" the flaming boy shouted, his cheek flames growing some in size, as he pouted to the girl. "First, she asked me to dance and then she just takes off without even an explanation for why!"

"Tom, look I don't have time to-"

"Can you believe that?!" he continued his rant, ignoring the girl, his eyes starting to glow red and his voice beginning to deepen. "I mean, seriously, what is her deal?!"

"Tom!" Jackie shouted, finally getting his attention, as he turned to her in surprise, his eyes going back to normal. Now that the boy was silent, Jackie was able to take in a deep breath, saying in a much softer tone, "The reason Janna left is because she is helping me with something important."

"And what's that?" Tom asked.

"I can't say," Jackie replied.

"Wait, seriously?!"

"Yes, seriously," she shot back. "And I'm kinda in a hurry, so-"

She started to take off, but Tom moved so he was blocking her path. "Oh no, I'm not getting ditched by two girls tonight, one is bad enough," he said, firmly.

"Tom," Jackie started in a scolding tone. But when he still didn't budge, she sighed, pinching the bridge of her noise in annoyance. "Look, I don't have time to explain everything, but I need to find the King and Queen as quickly as I can. It's an emergency."

Tom hesitated for a moment, before his determination returned full force. "Well, I'm not moving until you tell me what's wrong," he said, her pleading doing nothing to shake his resolve, crossing his arms and giving her a hard stare, much to the skater's annoyance.

Jackie could feel the seconds ticking by and knew she didn't have time to stand there and argue. She bit her lip, still not sure if she could trust the over-emotional teen, but she didn't feel she had any choice anymore. "Fine," she said, with an exasperated sigh.

…

Rasticore rushed Star, Marco, and Janna with a yell, moving at a far faster speed than any of them were expecting, Janna ducking under the spinning chainsaw at the last second, feeling the air whoosh past her at breakneck speeds. But she was the lucky one, as Rasticore's tail whipped out, wrapping around Star's waist and throwing the princess into Marco, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Janna, seeing this, quickly sent a well-timed kick into the lizard's stomach, forcefully pushing him back, his boots sliding across the cold stone, but he managed to remain standing under the impact. In fact, it was far lighter than most of the other Impures he had faced before, still quite strong, no doubt, but manageable. Rasticore held back a smile, this would be easier than he thought.

He wasted no time at all as he charged again, clutching the spinning blade tightly in his claws, as he readied himself to strike the half-monster girl, but this time Janna was ready for it. She easily dodged his attack and the next one and the next, moving out of the way of the assassin's noisy weapon, weaving around the trained killer, as he slashed at her again and again.

But Rasticore was far from discouraged, as he simply waited patiently for an opening to present itself, knowing the girl's inexperience would eventually leave her vulnerable. And he didn't have to wait long, as she accidentally stepped into a bad position dodging out of the way from the sawblade that came dangerously close to her head, too focused on avoiding the noisy weapon to notice, as she almost tripped. And in that second of hesitation, Rasticore kicked her feet out from under her, causing the girl to fall backward.

Janna felt the air knocked out of her lungs as her back slammed into the rough, stone ground, leaving her coughing as she tried to regain her air flow. But she didn't have long to recover, as Rasticore, now standing over her, thrust his chainsaw down at her, Janna catching it between her hands at the last second. It then became a battle of strength, as Rasticore pushed down on the sawblade, trying to overpower the girl and hit her with the deadly weapon.

Meanwhile, it was taking every ounce of strength for Janna to keep the sawblade at bay, even her enhanced strength no match for the lizard's metal claw, as the deadly weapon hovered dangerously close to her head. She tried not to show it, but Rasticore could tell by the strained look in her eyes that she was struggling to hold him off.

"What's the matter, Impure?" he taunted, still only griping the blade at half-strength. "Not as strong as you think you are."

Janna only gritted her fanged teeth in response, as the Monster began to slowly overpower his victim, pressing down even harder on his prized weapon. The sawblade began to hover closer and closer to the girl, moving slowly toward her, inch by precious inch, the roar of the chainsaw now deafening to the half-Monster girl.

Rasticore, knowing he had won, said in harsh voice, "Goodbye Impure!" the gears in his metal arm tightening as he prepared to force the chainsaw down with all his might. But just before he could give one final push, he heard a yell behind him. "Leave her alone!" The next thing he knew Star and Marco, now recovered from his first attack, jumped onto his back, kicking and punching at him, as they clung tightly to his cloak. Though, their brave display did nothing to harm him in the least, it did distract him from his task, focusing on prying the two annoying teens off of his back, his grip loosening some on his chainsaw, allowing Janna to finally push the spinning blade some away from herself and give her a bit of breathing room.

Meanwhile, Rasticore, annoyed and frustrated with the two, managed to knock the two off of him, as he swerved and hit them with the back of his claw, the two once again falling to the floor, releasing a pained grunt.

Janna seeing her friends hurt, felt a rush of anger course through her and she quickly shifted to her bat form, flying out of the way as the chainsaw suddenly fell to the floor with a loud clunk. The Monster assassin stumbled, still leaning heavily on the blade, thrown off by the sudden disappearance of his opponent. He swerved back around in confusion and that was when Janna turned back to her Monster form, punching him as hard as she could in the face, sending him flying back.

Rasticore slid across the rough stone ground, breaking it beneath him as he went, until he finally came to a painful stop, hitting his head against the brick wall.

He sat up, rubbing his aching head, looking for his weapon, which had slipped out of his grip when he fell. He spotted it laying close by and he reached out to grab it. But Princess Star picked it up at the last second, holding it awkwardly in her hands as she backed away from the Monster, keeping a close eye on him.

"Give that back, princess," he growled as he rose to his feet, Star trying not to show her fear as he stalked closer, his serpent eye narrowing on her form. Janna tried to interfere, as she ran at the Monster with a raised fist, but the assassin easily backstepped the swing, before grabbing onto her arm and throwing her into the brick wall. Janna hit the wall with a thud, before collapsing to the ground and Star screamed in panic, "Janna!"

That was when Rasticore chose to pounce, quickly closing the distance between him and his prey. Star tried to move out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough with the uncomfortable boots on, her choice in fashion betraying her it seemed, as the assassin easily overpowered her and reclaimed his chainsaw. He now held the spinning blade in his good claw, while keeping the girl's arms pinned behind her back with his metallic claw. "Let me go!" Star screamed, struggling as she tried to somehow break free from the Monster's literal iron grasp.

Rasticore, on the other hand was just focusing on his mission, pleased that he had just accomplished his main objective, his target finally captured. Now all he had to do was bring the pretty princess back to-

"Hey!" a voice yelled, snapping Rasticore out of his inner thoughts, not even having time to react as something was thrown over him... something hot. The next thing the lizard knew, his skin felt like it was on fire, a burning sensation spreading across his face and shoulders.

Marco just watched as the lizard monster screamed in pain from beneath the flaming picnic blanket, still holding one of the lit candles from their dinner, the boy thankful he had been right about the lizard's crystal eye being a blind spot, making him capable of sneaking up on the assassin. Rasticore became more and more frantic as he tried to pry the burning thing off of him, dropping his hold on the chainsaw in his flame-filled panic and releasing his grip on Star.

The girl immediately pulled away and ran into the arms of her savior, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "Thanks for the save," she said, giving him a grateful squeeze.

"Anytime," Marco replied gladly, his cheeks turning bright pink. But remembering the dangerous situation they were still in, he pulled a little out of the hug, quickly adding, "Now let's hurry and get out of here."

"You're not going anywhere!" Rasticore's angry yell cut through the moment, the two turning to see the lizard glaring at them, holding what was left of the burnt blanket in his hand, small patches of flames on his cloak, which he seemed to be ignoring. His serpent eyes narrowed on the two, clearly infuriated with the Mewman teens. "I have had just about enough of your little, childish tricks!" He held out his metal claw, a spark of energy beginning to gather around his iron palm. "This ends here!" he hissed, the energy growing and expanding, until it covered his entire claw, before it all was released in a hot blast of unstoppable energy.

…

Queen Moon and King River wandered around the party for awhile, greeting all of their guests and tending to any problems that arose, which so far were few and far between. Moon, however, was keeping an eye out for her daughter, having not seen Star for quite a while now. She figured she could just be off somewhere with Marco, since she had been excused from having to deal with any regal matters for the night, but still Star had seemed rather eager to partake in the festivities, so the queen found it rather strange that she had just vanished into thin air.

 _Where is that girl?_ she wondered to herself.

But Moon was pulled out of her thoughts, as River suddenly said, "It's almost time now, is it not, my love?" When Moon turned to her husband in confusion, he gestured upward and she quickly followed his gaze to the ceiling of the ballroom.

There she could see the large stone hand, which had a crescent moon shaped crystal embedded in it, which was slowly starting to glow red, signifying the blood moon was about to be in position. "Yes, it would seem so," Moon agreed, making her way to the stage, River following closely after. She ascended the steps with a delicate grace that only a lifetime of training could allow, before moving to the front of the stage, where some servants had just finished setting up the microphone.

Moon whispered her thanks to the bowing staff, before she cleared her throat, respectfully. The lights and music dulled, the chattering crowd going silent as all eyes were directed on the Queen of Mewni. She waited until everyone had completely settled down, before saying in a regal, dignified voice, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to announce that it is now time for the main dance of the evening. In a moment, the light of the blood moon will shine down and selects its chosen couple, and through their dance it will bind their souls together for eternity. So it is now, that I ask that you turn your eyes skyward as we witness an unspeakable magic that can only be seen once every six centuries. "

Everyone eagerly turned to stare up at the glowing crystal, waiting for the big moment, their fingers crossed in the hopes that they would be selected.

…

Star was just about to try and dodge the lizard's incoming beam, but Marco beat her to it, instinctively moving Star out of the way of the burst of energy, doing the only thing he could think of at the moment, resulting in him pulling her into a graceful dip. Star lost her breath, as she clung tightly onto Marco, not expecting the sudden dance move, the boy suspending her there in mid-air, as the laser blast sailed over their heads, harmlessly. But the two felt their cheeks grow hot as their eyes locked, both wide with surprise.

And at that exact moment, the moon reached its peak in the star-filled sky, casting its blood red beams down on the world below, lighting up its selected targets in its crimson glow. Star and Marco were rendered speechless, as the red light fell upon them, the world seeming to slow to a crawl, as the wondrous moment seemed to hold them there, trapped in time. Everything else vanished in an instant, the danger and the fear and the hurry, until all that was left was just the two of them, caught in the blood light's hypnotic glow, their cheek marks changing to red crescent moons without their knowledge.

The two were seized by an overwhelming emotion, feeling a strange sensation spread through them as, suddenly, the couple could feel the other's heartbeat beating in time to their own, pounding against their chest like a lifeline. And, for just a moment, their minds linked, hearing each others thoughts ringing through their head. Space and distance didn't seem to matter anymore, vanishing into nothingness, and suddenly they were no longer Star or Marco... they were now Star _and_ Marco. Starco. One soul, bound together beneath a single crimson light.

Meanwhile, Rasticore just glared at the two with growing disgust and irritation. He had been caught off guard by the sudden bright beam shooting down from the heavens and landing on his prey, freezing up for a second. He had of course known about the blood moon, but he hadn't expected it to start its binding ceremony or whatever right in the middle of their fight. He looked up at the source of the bright light, as he growled at the crimson moon in annoyance, "Really?!"

He wished stuff would stop getting in the way of his job. And as he looked back at the two, he almost gagged at the love-struck look in their eyes, not even aware he was there anymore it seemed. But Rasticore recovered quickly, once he realized he could use this to his advantage, raising his metal claw again, aiming right at the two lovebirds, as it began charging with energy.

"That's right, princess, enjoy your moment with your little boyfriend," he muttered to himself with an evil grin. "It'll be your last."

But just before Rasticore fired the blast, Janna tackled him, knocking him to the ground and sending the beam sailing harmlessly over her two friend's heads. Though they were undamaged by the failed attack, it did manage to snap the two out of their moment, as Marco quickly lifted Star back up to her feet and the two pulled away from each other, though their eyes remained locked. Once they had separated, the red light ceased its shine, the moon's brightness fading back to its regular luminosity, and their cheek marks returned back to their signature form, though they were still glowing brighter than usual due to the teens' blushing.

The two just stood there, breathless, as they tried to make sense of the feelings and emotions they had just experienced, not sure what to make of the magical moment, both wondering the exact same thing, _What was that?_

…

Queen Moon frowned, watching in growing disappointment as the light from the crystal finally faded altogether, the blood moon passing over the ballroom it seemed, selecting its two lovers outside of their area. _Poor Star_ , Moon couldn't help but think to herself as she heard several grumbles and dejected sighs from the guests.

She had been so excited at the thought that her and her boyfriend might have had their loved sealed together in the once-in-a-lifetime magical ceremony. Personally, Moon found that a bit forward, since they had only been dating for a few months but still, she hadn't wished her daughter to be disappointed. Besides, considering how close she was to the orphan boy and how much he had done to help her daughter grow and be joyful again, she had admittedly been a bit hopeful herself that the two would be chosen.

She scanned the crowd in search of finding her most-likely disheartened daughter, wanting to at least try and comfort her. But again, Star still seemed to be missing, which was extremely confusing and a little concerning to Moon. _Why would Star not be present for the blood moon?_

"Queen Moon! King River!" Moon turned in surprise to see one of Star's orphan friends, Jackie she believed her name was, running over to them, looking quite upset about something. But Moon's was even more surprised to see Prince Tom being willingly dragged behind the girl, his face set in a worried frown.

"Jackie? Thomas?" Moon said in shock, raising an eyebrow in confusion, as the two finally reached the Butterflies, not even bothering with the stairs as they climbed up onto the stage.

"Your Majesties, something's wrong!" Jackie quickly blurted out, but making sure to keep her voice down enough so it wouldn't be picked up on the microphone.

"What seems to be the trouble?" River asked, also looking baffled.

"There's an intruder in the castle and I think he's after Star!" Jackie immediately replied, her voice tight with worry, not even bothering to take any time to ease them into the bad news gently.

Moon and River's eyes widened, their blood going cold at the girl's words, fear consuming the two parents at the thought that their daughter could be in danger. "Star," Moon repeated numbly.

…

Rasticore, infuriated with his half-breed opponent, shoved Janna off of him with his metal claw before rising back to his feet. He tried to once again fire a quick blast at Star and Marco, who were still staring at each other in a love-struck daze, but was stopped by a punch in the face from Janna. Once the lizard had been knocked back, Janna risked a look over at the couple, saying in slight annoyance, "Hey look I know this is a big moment for you two and I hate to ruin it and all, but could you please not just stand there like sitting ducks!"

Star and Marco finally looked over to her with wide-eyes, blinking, as they suddenly seemed to remember the danger they were still in. "Oh right, sorry," they both said at the same time, sheepishly rubbing the back of their necks.

Janna was about to comment on the weirdly synchronized moment, but was distracted as Rasticore rushed toward her, swinging his chainsaw toward her side and she had to instead focus on not getting cut in half by the infuriated Monster. She jumped back, narrowly avoiding the spinning blade, before shifting to her bat form in an attempt to dodge his furious assault. He was becoming more and more venomous with his strikes, having clearly lost any and all patience as he held nothing back on the half-Monster girl, who was weaving her way around the chainsaw from mid-air.

Meanwhile, Star and Marco were about to try and lend their support, Star taking off her boots to make moving around easier. "Hang on, Jan! We're coming!" Star shouted, as she struggled to remove the uncomfortable shoes.

"No, you two stay back!" Janna shouted, shifting back to her Monster form a safe distance away from her opponent, keeping a weary eye on him for any sudden movements. "I can handle this guy!" She gave them a smug smirk to show her confidence, but Star and Marco looked far from convinced, surprised by the response, not sure how to feel about sitting out the rest of the fight. But at the same time, neither wanted to risk endangering their partner, so they stayed put.

Rasticore, however, merely smiled before saying in a gruff voice, "Still so confident, are we, Impure?"

He lunged forward with incredible precision, the girl side-stepping out of the way of his swinging blade with a bored look on her face, making a show of stifling a fake yawn. "I'm always confident," she answered, provokingly. Janna then, kicked the lowered blade away, causing Rasticore to stumble slightly. He growled at the girl, before swinging the blade at her in retaliation. She dodged another precise swing from the lizard's chainsaw, before turning into a bat, flying even farther away from where Star and Marco were, trying to lure him as far away from them as she could. Once she felt she was in right spot, she shifting back, landing gracefully on her feet. "Especially when I'm about to win," she added, her fangs flashing at him from beneath her smug, obnoxious grin.

Rasticore felt white-hot anger rushing through his blood, but he quickly subdued it, keeping a steady, focused mind. He chuckled, as he calmly walked closer to the girl, allowing his chainsaw to drag the ground behind him, sparking menacingly. "You must think you're so clever, Impure," he spat at her harshly. "Think you can just taunt me into losing control so that you can beat me, oh so easily, and look like a hero in front of your friends."

"Yeah, pretty much," Janna shot back.

"Than you are just like every other Impure I have ever faced. They all thought that that would work, too, thought that they could get me to slip up and make a mistake. You freaks are all the same. Thinking that silver tongue of yours can save you, but it can't."

"Hate to break it to you, pal, but I'm not like the others you've faced before," Janna said, still showing no signs of fear in her tone. "Seriously, I helped to kill Toffee. The leader of all Monsters. So what do you got that can take me on? You're just a half-baked assassin. This is nothing compared to him."

Rasticore's eyes seemed to narrow even more. "So that's how the princess was able to kill the Invincible Monster, she had the help of an Impure," he muttered to himself. "Regardless," the lizard continued, much louder. "You cannot win this fight."

"Really?" Janna chuckled, obnoxiously.

"Yes," Rasticore growled in reply, before lunging at her, his chainsaw spinning away. Janna smiled at the predictable attack, waiting until the last second to jump, using the lizard's thrusting arm as support as she sailed over his head, leaving Rasticore unable to stop as his chainsaw rammed instead into one of the stone blocks that surrounded the tower. There was an ear-bleedingly loud screech, as metal collided with brick, his spinning sawblade forcefully cutting its way through the thick mortar, before becoming jammed within. The chainsaw turned itself off, as it lost its battle against the troublesome stone, Rasticore gaping in horror as his prized weapon was now trapped inside a block of stone.

He quickly began pulling on it with all his might, trying to free the blade, but it seemed it was stuck tight, not even budging against the lizard's powerful grip. "Come on, you stupid block! Ugh, just move already!" he hissed in frustration.

Meanwhile, Janna ran over to join Star and Marco, who could only stare open-mouthed at what had just occurred. "Janna, that was amazing!" Marco praised his creepy friend.

"Thanks," she replied, looking quite proud of the praise. "I just bought us some time, but that probably won't hold him for long."

"Then let's get out of here!" Star and Marco said as one, even their actions and tones mimicking one another perfectly. The two looked at each other in surprise, covering their mouths as their faces both blushed bright red.

"Okaaayy," Janna said, raising an eyebrow at the two. "Well that was new."

Before either Star or Marco could respond, they all heard a familiar blast, turning to see Rasticore lifting his chainsaw from the pile of crumbled stone he had just created with his laser.

"Ugh, seriously, does this guy ever give up?!" Janna shouted in frustration, rolling her eyes.

"Run!" Star shouted and the other two obeyed her, all of them heading for the trapdoor as fast as they could.

Rasticore saw his prey escaping and didn't even hesitate as he quickly shot off after them, running at them full speed, quickly gaining on the three teens. He raised his metal claw, firing off another beam of charged energy in their direction. But it missed the three, rocketing between Janna and Star, and instead hitting the ground in front of them, creating a small explosion that threw all of them back.

As Rasticore drew ever closer, he reached out a claw toward the fallen princess, who was trying to recover from the unexpected blast, looking quite disoriented as she clutched at her aching head. Just before he reached her, Janna jumped in the way, grabbing onto Rasticore's metal claw and digging her heels into the ground, managing to stop him in his tracks. She then quickly grabbed his other, regular arm, to keep him from hitting her with the deadly chainsaw. It once again became a power struggle as Janna tried to hold Rasticore off and the assassin tried to overpower the half-Monster girl.

"Janna!" Star shouted in worry, finally recovering enough to see the position her friend was in, Marco laying unconscious next to her.

Janna was struggling to hold the Monster off, giving everything she had into pushing him away, her arms shaking as they began to give out under his far stronger hold. Rasticore, with his metal arm, was clearly superior to Janna, it taking everything she had just to hold him at bay. "Still getting in my way, Impure," Rasticore hissed, darkly. "That is a mistake you will soon regret!"

"The only one who made any mistakes here is you for thinking you could mess with Star," Janna shot back, straining to hold him back.

Rasticore laughed cruelly at that. "Hardly. Once you're out of the way, taking the princess will be child's play." He then, still holding a steady grip on the girl, allowed the energy to gather in his metal palm, all of it coursing through Janna, causing the girl to scream in pain as her body went numb, being electrocuted by the cruel assassin.

Star rose to her feet, screaming, "No! Stop it, let her go!"

Rasticore smiled evilly at this, obeying the princess as he released his grip on the half-Monster girl, Janna's body going limp as she collapsed to the ground in front of him. Rasticore then held the chainsaw up over the Impure's form, the chainsaw spinning ominously in his grip and Star's eyes widened in horror.

"Janna, no!" Star cried, tears filling her vision, as she raced over to her friend, intent on stopping the cruel Monster from carrying out his promise. But Rasticore knew the blond royal couldn't reach him in time and so he smiled victoriously at the hated Impure, who seemed for the moment to be unconscious.

"Goodbye, half-breed," he hissed, raising his chainsaw to strike. But he stopped as something flaming and hot hit him directly in the face, causing him to stumble back, screaming in unexpected pain as he covered the now burning part of his body. He growled in anger, believing the attack to have come from Star's annoying little boyfriend, foolishly throwing candles at him or something and he swore to end him. But as he looked up, shooting the boy a death glare, he froze in surprise at who he saw instead. It was another teenage boy in a fancy white tux with purple skin and flaming red hair. His eyes glowed a sinister red and his cheeks were lit by a roaring and out of control flame, much like the one that covered his own body at the moment. He hovered in the air above the destroyed trapdoor, small flames below his feet allowing him to do so and Rasticore cringed as he recognized the boy as none other than the Prince of the Underworld himself: Tom Lucitor.

"Get away from her, _now_!" the boy screamed in a deep and terrifying voice, even Princess Star having stopped to watch the young prince, though judging by the conflicted look she was giving him, she clearly didn't know how she felt about seeing him there. It was also at this moment, that Marco seemed to have awoken, sitting up and rubbing at his head, looking up at the flaming teen with surprise.

Before Rasticore could even react, Tom held out a hand and sent a fireball spiraling toward him, the lizard moving out of the way just in time to keep from getting burned. He began backing farther and farther away as Tom flew closer. "How dare you attack her, you jerk!" he continued, his voice a deep rumble, the flames around him growing in size and strength, as his red-tinted eyes narrowed on the Monster's form. "I'm gonna burn you to a crisp!"

Before the hot-headed teen could follow through on his anger, though, they all heard a voice call from below the trapdoor, "They're up this way!"

Star and Marco gasped as they recognized the voice to be Jackie, followed by what sounded like a large group of people's footsteps racing up the staircase. Rasticore felt his blood run cold as he recognized the tell-tale sounds of trained soldier's approaching. He was a good enough assassin to know when it was time to give up and accept defeat, his cover was blown and his capture was now inevitable. Not to mention, if he stuck around there much longer he was also at risk of Prince Tom vengefully setting him on fire. His mission was now officially a failure.

He gave one last glare at the princess, saying in a definitive voice, "This is far from over, Princess Star. Someday soon we will make you pay for your crimes."

"We?" Star repeated. "Who are you working for?!" But Rasticore didn't answer, as he then held up his chainsaw. Star, Marco, and Tom watching in disbelief as he used it to cut open a dimensional tear right in front of them. "Hey!" Tom screamed seeing his opponent about to escape, shooting another fireball his way. "Don't you run away from me!" But Rasticore was already gone, stepping through the make-shift portal, before it vanished altogether, the flames hitting the spot where the assassin had been just a second too late.

Tom surprisingly didn't dwell on this, however, as all at once, all the anger seemed to leave his body, replaced instead with fear, as he flew over to where Janna lay. Star and Marco did the same, the princess helping the boy to his feet, before joining Tom by the creepy girl's form. "Janna, are you okay?" Star asked, as the three knelt down to examine the dark-haired girl, though they all instantly sighed in relief as they noticed that she had thankfully woken up, rubbing at her sore head, even taking off the beanie to do so.

"Yeah, I'm good," she responded in typical Janna fashion, though she sounded exhausted. "But just so you know this is by far the worst dance I have ever been to."

Star shook her head at the girl's attempt to lighten the mood, responding tearfully, "Noted," before she swept her up in a tight hug. "Thank you," she muttered into the girl's ear and Janna smiled sweetly at her royal friend.

"Uh, do I get a thank you, too?" Tom asked pointing to himself, giving the girl a hopeful smile.

Star thought for a moment, giving the boy a hard look, before saying, "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks Tom."

Tom's face seemed to brighten at the that, until Star added, "But I'm still really mad at you!"

Tom flinched, before silently nodding in understanding, not wanting to make things worse by speaking. At least it was still some small progress. He decided it was best to leave it at that.

Marco looked back to the trapdoor, as Jackie finally led the guards to the top, all of them quickly spreading out on the tower, Skullnick barking orders to all of them. A thought suddenly struck Marco as he nervously whispered over to the girl, "Janna, you still look like a Monster."

Janna, realizing the boy was right, quickly shifted back to her Mewman form, as Tom and Star helped her to her feet. Jackie raced over to the group, quickly asking, "What happened? Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, Jacks," Marco replied, giving her a comforting smile.

Jackie let out a relieved breath, as she pulled both Star and Marco into a tight hug. "Thank goodness, I was so worried about you two."

"I'm fine too, by the way," Janna said, sarcastically, still leaning against Tom as support.

"Where's the intruder?!" Skullnick's voice boomed directly behind them, making all of the teens jump. They hadn't even heard the troll general approaching.

"He got away," Star explained, once she recovered from her shock. "He used his chainsaw to somehow open a dimensional portal, it must be how he got into the castle in the first place."

"An unsanctioned dimensional transporter?" Skullnick roared, sounding beside herself at the idea. "Ohhh, Heckapoo is gonna get an earful for this!" But before, the ranting general could question her further, she was interrupted as Star heard two very familiar voices calling her name.

"Star!" The young blond felt her throat becoming chocked up as she saw her parents now standing on the old tower as well, accompanied by several knights, the look of worry on their faces melting into one of relief as they saw their daughter unharmed. "Mom! Dad!" Star cried, as she quickly ran over to them and threw her arms around them in a hug.

"Oh, my dear, we were so worried!" Moon said, squeezing her back, Star able to hear the fear still laced in her mother's voice, something they had no doubt been feeling for the last several minutes. General Skullnick just stood by at firm attention, awaiting for the right moment to speak, watching as the Butterfly Family reunited in silence, knowing better than to interrupt this important moment.

"Are you alright, darling?" River asked, seriously.

"Yes, I'm fine," Star chocked out, tearfully, soaking in the feeling of her parent's warmth.

"Good," River said. But as Star finally pulled away, her father's face shifted from one of relief to one of pure anger, as she rumbled loudly, "Now then, tell me where is that vile villain who dares to try and harm my daughter?!" River began looking feverishly around for his daughter's attacker, his barbarian roots returning as his parental instincts pushed out any regality he had gained over the years, sounding like he was ready to rip the guy in half with his bare hands. Which, in all likeliness, was probably true.

"He's gone, papa," Star replied, reassuringly. "He escaped."

"How on Mewni did you manage to avoid his capture?" Moon asked, ignoring her husband's outburst, as she brushed a stray hair out of her daughter's face. She surveyed the half-destroyed tower for a moment, taking in the destroyed brickwork that looked like it had been in some sort of explosion and the array of burnt wood fragments scattered around the tower. "It looks like a battlefield up here!"

"Umm, well, we just got lucky, I guess," Star said, looking back at her friends, who were just quietly listening to the Butterfly family's discussion, though they all tried to hide their troubled look at this question, none of them not wanting the king and queen to know the truth about Janna.

River laughed at that. "Hah. Luck probably had nothing to do with it," the king said, patting his daughter proudly on the shoulder. "My daughter is resourceful and skilled, just like her old man. You probably gave that assassin what for."

"Well, however you did it, I'm just glad you're safe," Moon said, though Star could hear admiration in her voice as well and Star felt her cheeks heating up against her will.

"Thanks," Star said with a shy smile, still not used to her parents praising her like that.

"But who was it, Star?" Moon asked. "Do you know who did this?"

Skullnick leaned in a little to hear the answer better.

Star hesitated before answering. "H-He said his name was Rasticore," she said, carefully.

"Rasticore," Moon muttered, clearly trying to think if she had heard the name before.

"Yes, but..." Star looked back at the general for a moment, who was watching her intently with piercing eyes, her arms folded in waiting. The blond royal quickly pulled her parents away and out of earshot of the general, much to their confusion and slight worry. "But there's one more thing you should know," she said, in a lowered voice, looking between both of her parents seriously. She took in a sharp breath, before admitting, "The assassin who attacked me was a Monster."

"What?!" Moon said in disbelief.

"But I don't think he was with the other Monsters," Star quickly added, before her mother could get any angrier. "I mean, he did say he was hired by someone else, but I just... don't think any of the Monsters had anything to do with it, he said he wasn't interested in Monster affairs."

Her parents shared a look.

"And who do you think it was then?" River asked.

Star paused, before answering in a soft whisper, "I-I don't know."

Moon put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, looking deep into her eyes as she said reassuringly, "We'll find him, Star. As well, as whoever it is he is working for. They won't get away with this again."

Star said nothing else, just nodding numbly to her parents.

…

The ball was quickly concluded after that, the Butterflies giving a hasty and rushed ending speech, before shooing the regal guests away, thanking them all for coming before sending them on their way to their respective dimensions. The party goers, of course, obeyed the request of their gracious hosts, but couldn't help but feel there was more to the story than they were being told, the normally level-headed rulers seeming bizarrely on edge that evening. Still, most of them concluded that they were probably just stressed out over trying to establish a diplomatic relationship with their longtime enemies, the Monsters. None of them aware of the real reason for their lead rulers stress, Queen Moon and King River making sure to keep them in the dark about the almost disastrous incident, knowing it could prove to be problematic if word got out that a rogue Monster had attempted to take out the future ruler in what was supposed to be the safest and most secure place in Mewni. They just hoped they could get it to stay that way.

Once the castle was cleared of any prying, quizzical eyes, the knights and guards began searching every inch of the castle for any signs of any other intruders, just in case the assassin wasn't acting alone, and looking for any forms of clues that could help them capture the Monster, including interrogating the two knights who had been knocked out by Rasticore when he snuck inside, as well as Star and her friends.

After answering a long and exhausting amount of questions from General Skullnick herself, Star, Marco, Tom, Jackie, and Janna had finally been dismissed and allowed to go about their business as usual. Somehow Star ended up sitting on the front steps leading out to the castle gardens, lost deep in her own troubled thoughts, so deep she was unaware of the knights that constantly paraded around her... or the young fancily dressed Mewman slowly coming up behind her.

"Can I sit?" Marco asked the girl, Star not even turning to acknowledge him.

"Sure," she replied, softly.

But Marco took the invitation, as he down next to Star, watching her intensely. "Wow, so... that was crazy," he said, not sure what else to say.

"Yeah it was," Star agreed sadly, refusing to meet his eyes, instead focusing on one of the ribbons of her dress, which had been ripped somehow during the ordeal.

The two went quiet after that, neither sure what else to say, Star just staring off into space, while Marco shifted uncomfortably next to her, silently pretending to look out at the lush gardenscape, while eying his troubled bestie out of the corner of his eye. The moment continued to stretch out for far too long, Marco beginning to feel an awkward tension starting to form between the two, coughing once to try and lighten the mood a bit, as well as clear his tight throat.

"Sooo, that Monster, what do you think he wanted?" Marco risked asking.

"I have no idea," Star replied, rubbing a hand up and down her arm as if she were cold. "I just hope this doesn't ruin everything we worked for." Marco knew exactly what Star meant, the same questions and worries now plaguing his own mind. Though they were at peace, it seemed it was a very fragile one, the years of hatred and oppression causing unrest between the two sides and any incident like this, regardless of why, could prove to be fuel to reignite the violent nature of the two races.

"I'm sure it'll work out," Marco said, encouragingly, still refusing to give up hope. They had to keep the peace, he wouldn't allow anymore Mewmans or Monster to kill one another needlessly. "Right now nobody even knows about any of this yet."

"But what happens if they do find out?" Star cried, her voice filled with desperation, as she nervously played with a strand of her hair. "The Mewmans might end up blaming the other Monsters for the attack! They'll be afraid of them all over again! They might even try and get revenge! What would we do then?!"

"Then we'd find a way to make it right," Marco said confidently. He paused for a second before adding in a strong, sure tone, "But it's not gonna come to that, Star. You, me, your parents, Buff Frog, we won't let what Toffee did to happen ever again. Things are different now, we have each other." Marco blushed on the last word, his mind drifting to earlier, remembering how it had felt when he and Star had been caught in the light of the blood moon, remembering the feeling of her heartbeat inside his chest and her loving words drifting through every corner of his mind, wondering how much of that had been real.

Star sniffed, wiping a frustrated tear out of her eye. "I guess you're right," she said, sounding slightly reassured, a small smile gracing her lips for a moment. But it vanished in a flash, as she went back to playing with the ripped fabric on her dress, still not even looking in his direction, which caused Marco quite a bit of concern, the boy realizing there was something else causing her so much distress.

"Star, what's really wrong?" Marco asked, worriedly, placing a hand ontop of hers, preventing her hands from fiddling anymore, as she looked over into his eyes, Marco still left breathless by the beautiful sky blue irises focusing on him.

Star looked deep into the chocolate brown of Marco's eyes for a moment, still quite amazed how easily Marco had seen through her. She couldn't keep anything from him for long, he knew her too well. "It's just that," Star said, before releasing a depressed sigh. "I just... I wanted our first date to be perfect... not nightmare inducing. And now the whole night was ruined." She propped her head on her hand, as she looked out into the dark woods, the dejection in her actions, unmistakable.

Marco thought for a second, trying to come up with a way to cheer his bestie up. Honestly, he couldn't pretend being almost kidnapped by a Monster wasn't terrifying and hadn't left him feeling on edge, the boy now left with quite a few things to think about, outside of just the unrest between his two families. Most notably being the name Rasticore had called him. Diaz. He would have to talk to Buff Frog soon, ask him if the assassin was telling the truth about that being his last name, the name he shared with his parents, the last remnant he had of them.

But that would have to wait until a later date, right now his focus was on his girlfriend and making her happy. So he forced out all the questions and worries as he looked around for an idea. His eyes, eventually drifted up to the night sky, his eyes landing on the blood moon. Though it was no longer at its peak, lowering further and further toward the horizon, its crimson glow was still breathtaking. Marco smiled, an idea coming to him, as his red suns, for a moment, turned into blinking lightbulbs. The boy stood, causing Star to stare up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well the nights not over yet," Marco said, looking down at the girl with one of his signature smiles. He offered her a hand, before adding, with a soft blush on his cheeks, "So Star Butterfly, would you care to dance?"

Star eyed the hand for a few seconds, before nodding, shooting him a grateful smile as she took his hand in hers, allowing him to pull her to her feet. He led her out onto the soft grass, Star realizing she was still barefoot, but she kinda liked the way the grass felt on her toes. Once they were far enough out, Marco turned back to the girl, putting a hand on her side, just like he had before and Star placing her hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to begin the dance.

But the boy stood still for a moment, looking a little embarrassed about something. "What is it, Marco?" Star asked.

"I, uh, just realized I don't know how to dance without music," Marco said, sheepishly.

Star chuckled slightly at his cuteness, before pulling closer to him, giving him the softest kiss on the lips. "I can fix that," she said. She then began to hum a tune, Marco instantly recognizing it as the song they had danced to at the Orphan's Ball, and he sucked in a breath, surprised by how sweet and perfect Star's singing voice was, able to clearly and easily carry the melody without pause. He had never heard her sing before, but he hoped he got the chance to hear it a million times after, the sound frying braincells with every note.

Then without warning, she pulled him into a dance, leading him into a graceful twirl, her voice growing louder and more sure as she did. To his credit, Marco kept up with the girl, quickly getting into the steady rhythm of Star's dance, matching her movements perfectly, the two once again in sync with one another, almost as if they knew what the other was about to do, moving as one.

Then, even though he had only heard it once before, he began to hum the tune as well and Star faltered a bit in pitch, surprised by how lovely the boy's own voice sounded, her heart cheek marks beating once. But as she found her voice once more, she found that it matched up perfectly with Marco's, the two harmonizing with one another in every way. They continued on like that for a while, their dance becoming more and more fluid and confident and their voices growing louder with every shared note, finding courage in the knowledge that their partner was following along with them, feeling safe and comforted in each others arm's.

Meanwhile, a less pleasant scene was going on inside the ballroom, as Jackie, Janna, and Tom just silently watching the knight's frantic search. The three had yet to say anything since they had been released by Skullnick, Marco even quickly abandoning the teens to look for Star, though they did continue to share looks with one another, none sure what to say now, after everything.

Tom especially seemed jolted by the experience, standing between the two girls awkwardly, his calm facade fading in their presence, or more specifically Janna's. Every time he cast a glance toward her, his cheeks inadvertently heated up and he began to lose any and all functioning of his brain.

He wanted to try and talk to Janna about the... _thing_ she had done earlier before she left, but something about the fake relaxed smile she was giving made him hesitant. He understood why she was acting so eerily calm, she had come close to being exposed as an Impure, Skullnick's pestering questions detailed and difficult to lie through. She was trying to protect herself and so, as much as he didn't want to, he decided it was best just to leave things where they were for now.

He cleared his throat, breaking the tense moment at last, the two girls turning to him and he made sure his voice was as smooth and lacking any form of an unmanly squeak as he could as he said, "Well, since the ball is officially over, I don't really have much reason to stick around, so I guess I'll see you two around." He quickly turned away, about to open a portal back to the Underworld and save him from anymore embarrassment, until he strangely heard Jackie's voice call out to him, "Wait Tom!"

The boy turned back to face the skater girl and she gave him a wide, warm smile. "I just wanted to say... thank you so much for your help back there," she said gratefully.

"No problem," he replied, with his own smile.

Jackie's face became slightly sheepish and she tucked a stray hair behind her ear, adding reluctantly, "I guess I misjudged you all these years. You really are a great guy, Tom."

Tom was taken aback by the white-haired girl's praise, but tried not to show his surprise as he said, "Th-Thank you." He wasn't really sure what else to say.

Then Janna caught him even more off guard as she suddenly leaned in with that same smug, irresistible smile dancing on her lips. "I enjoyed our dance, we should do it again sometime," she whispered playfully. The boy gulped hard, his throat becoming far too dry to respond. And as she continued to stare at him, Tom's felt his heart rate spike as he tried desperately to keep his skin from heating up anymore, for some reason the young pyro powerless to control his body temperature when Janna was involved.

"Y-Yeah, right," he managed to gasp out.

He was about to turn away when Janna quickly grabbed onto his tie, holding him in place as she added in a sugary-sweet voice, "Oh, and thanks for the save, hot stuff." She surprising him with another kiss on the cheek, the boy's whole body going stiff. "See you around," she whispered seductively in his ear.

Tom laughed nervously, as he struggled to recover from the experience, moving out of the girl's grasp, backing nervously away from the girls. "C-Cool. Yes. S-So I'm just g-gonna go now," he stuttered, averting his eyes from either of them, mortified by his awkward behavior, wondering if he could ever live this down. But Janna just enjoyed watching the boy fumble with his words, his cheek flames snuffing out altogether as soon as her lips had touched one of them. "S-so bye," he said in barely a whisper, giving the tinest of waves, before his body disappeared into flames, never once looking up as he did.

The second the smoke had cleared, leaving no sign anyone had been standing there a moment ago, Jackie shot her roommate a glare. "That was really mean," she scolded, feeling bad for the boy, knowing how much his reputation meant to him.

"What was mean about it?" Janna asked innocently, though the mischievous look in her eyes gave her away. "I was just thanking him for saving my life."

"Uh, huh," Jackie deadpanned. But she smiled again, as she leaned in a bit closer to her friend. "So, you and Tom, huh?" the white-haired girl asked, a slight tease in her own tone.

"Maybe, we'll see." Janna tried to act nonchalant, shrugging carelessly, but the joy in her eyes was unmistakable. The two began walking across the now empty dance floor, side by side, and Janna decided to change the subject back to the other important matters of the evening, saying in a very businesslike tone, "Now then, about the bet..."

Jackie immediately sighed in defeat. "Well, I think it's pretty obvious who won," Jackie said, gesturing to the hectic mess of the ballroom.

"You called it. It's Star and Marco so, of course, something crazy had to happen," she added, sounding genuinely disappointed, crossing her arms in front of her and staring at her feet. "It was stupid of me to think I could plan the perfect first date."

"Yeah it was," Janna answered honestly and Jackie shot her a quick glare. But she stopped as the two reached the door to the garden, a small smile on her lips, as she added, "But you weren't totally wrong."

Jackie gave her a questioning look and Janna gestured out to the palace garden, Jackie following her look. She froze, seeing Star and Marco happily dancing together in the picturesque type scene, giggling and humming to themselves, their love and joy obvious even from a distance, looking so content just to be with one another. Jackie didn't even blink, as Janna draped an arm across the girl's shoulders. "See the problem was," she said, matter-of-factly. "You forgot the most important thing about Star and Marco. They thrive on chaos, it always brings them closer together. Guaranteed, every time."

Jackie said nothing, but her face changed from one of shock to one of delight, as the young couple finally ceased their dance, stopping mid-step as Marco suddenly kissed Star on the lips, the urge apparently too strong, the two closing their eyes as they just enjoyed the moment of bliss. And as the kiss deepened Jackie said softly, "You're right, Jan. I really didn't have to try too hard. Looks they found a way to get closer even without my help."

The two went silent for a moment, just watching as Star and Marco remained in their kiss, Star wrapping her arms around the boy's neck to draw him even closer to her. Until finally, Janna added quickly, "Plus, they were actually in the blood moon's binding ceremony during our fight with that Monster guy, so there's that."

"Wait what?" Jackie asked in surprise, but Janna was already gone. "Janna!" Jackie yelled after her sneaky friend, who had turned into a bat, flying away into the star-filled sky to escape her angry roommate's reprimanding. "Come back!"

Star and Marco were too lost in their own moment to even notice the disturbance, the world consisting of just the two of them once again. They both sighed against each others lips, so thankful how the night had turned out, despite everything. While above them, unbeknownst to anyone, the blood moon's glow intensified, looking almost like a crimson red sun, as the stars around it began to sparkle with an incredible light, as if they two were dancing to the night's silent song.

…

Rasticore emerged from his self-made portal, singed and defeated, as he pulled off the burnt remains of his only cloak, holding back the annoyed growl that began building up in his throat, not sure who he was more infuriated with. Though he was fairly sure the Impure easily topped his list. He ignored the stale air of the abandoned temple, as he sat down on a crumbled pillar that had long since fallen, fiddling with his precious chainsaw, wanting to make sure it wasn't too damaged from the Impure's annoying trick.

"How did your mission go, Rasticore?" a voice called and the lizard looked up from his work to see his beneficiary coming closer, an older woman in a very fancy dress. "I see that the princess isn't here with you," she replied, looking around the lizard with a slight glare.

He immediately rose to his feet out of respect to his client, clearing his throat before replying honestly, "I, unfortunately, was unsuccessful in capturing Princess Star. Her and her friends proved to be more... troublesome than I expected them to be."

"Troublesome? I was under the impression that you were a professional." Rasticore heard the judgment in her tone and felt a twinge of anger.

"My cover was blown," he explained, trying to hold back the venom in his tone. "I had no choice but to leave."

"Well, if you were just going to give up so easily, perhaps I hired the wrong Monster." Rasticore tried not to grit his teeth as the Mewman began tapping her fingers against her arm, impatiently.

"I will not fail you again, I swear. Next time, Princess Star, will be yours."

The woman looking pleased at the idea, a small, evil grin on her face. "Good," she said, before quickly retaining her regal pose. "But for now we will simply move on to the next princess on the list. It's too risky to try another attack at this point. We will just have to come back to Princess Star when the time is right."

"Yes , Miss Heinous," Rasticore responded, bowing his head to her.

Heinous smiled bitterly, in response, before turning away from her lackey, already thinking on how to reacquire the next rebellious mind that had dared to defy her perfect vision.

 ***Phew* And that's the end of that one! Like I said I wanted this one to feel as big as possible, considering how much I had to introduce in one chapter, which admittedly was quite a lot, but this is the setup for the rest of this season so I felt it was all necessary and didn't need to be cut into two parts. Sooo much happened in this one! And for the record I lost most of Janna vs. Rasticore when my computer crashed and I'm not the most comfortable with writing fight sequences as it is, so having to rewrite it was, well, let's say a challenge because I had to recapture the magic, so I hope it all turned out okay. Also, I realize you all probably guessed who the villain was when Rasticore introduced himself but I wanted to save the reveal until the last moment, for dramatic effect, because, why not?**

 **Well, I hope you all enjoyed my lovely readers, now I will get to work on the next chapter, which is thankfully a bit shorter of one. Hopefully, I can get this one done in a decent-ish amount of time, haha. Love you all and I will see you all next time!**

 **But first, the comments!**

 **Meatpuppett- Thank you, I thought it wrapped stuff up nicely, as well! So glad others feel the same! Haha, yeah I figured most people adore those Starco moments as much as me so I throw in as many as I can. Thank you so much though for saying I write them so well, though, that means so much to me! I do try my best to make their moments feel as real and genuine as I can and that does have a lot to do with their growth and development during the course of the story, which helps to strengthen their relationship.**

 **Glad you like River and Moon's rather late entry into this series. I realized when I first came up with the basics of this story there was very little of either of them going to be featured and I realized I had to fix that so I decided now would be as good a time as any to throw them into the mix. I honestly do like them in the show so I kept their core perosonalites, but I wanted them to be less strict because I figured that they are sort of feeling guilty for sending their daughter away to St. O's and have at this point realized that their daughter has become the mature leader they want her to be. River is a bit difficult at times to write because he is just so unpredictable at times, but I did enjoy capturing his immature side that likes to surface sometimes!**

 **Them making peace seemed the most logical way for them to go and that does mean we get to see more of everyone's favorite character in the next season. That's right I'm talking about... Lobster Claw! Haha, seriously though, I am looking forward getting to write the Monsters next season, get ready for some parental moments from all of them, this season!**

 **Finally, glad you like season 1, hope you enjoy season 2 just as much, friend!**

 **SugarQueen97- *Several months after the wedding***

 **Marco: *staring at Star's pregnant belly* So wait, I'm confused, did you eat the stork or does it just live inside you?**

 **Star: We have to talk... again.**

 **Hahaha, oh my gosh, I laughed so hard at your opening! That is absolutely how that would go down and Marco totally believes that babies come from the stork! My sweet baby, he is not ready to know the truth! :3 And yes, he fainted when he finally understood what being a boyfriend is.**

 **Skullnick isn't necessary racist against the Monsters in that sense, she mistrusts them because they are the enemy and she takes her job super seriously. Still, it is pretty ironic, haha. Yeah, I wanted Moon and River to be more supportive and understanding considering everything and figured at this point they already trust Star enough to have her make her own decisions. I actually do like them okay in the series, though admit there are times I feel River could be more regal and Moon could just lighten up a bit, though I think they are both slowly growing some as the show goes on.**

 **Also, I did make sure to include Moon's little hint toward Marco's true origins for a reason! Though the full backstory is on the way pretty soon, I will go ahead and say now, that no, Rafael and Angie are not nobility, sorry. I do actually enjoy those stories too, but they were just regular people, no ties to throne, whatsoever. Sorry to not go into it further, but I'm saving the whole story for later. You won't have to wait too long, though. However, I will say that if Marco and Star ever end up together that would make Marco a king and therefor nobility so he will probably have to learn it regardless of his origins. Also keep in mind that Buff Frog is essentially the king of the Monsters, which would make Marco the prince. Just saying!**

 **I totally understand where you are coming from and do kind of miss season 1 and early season 2 when it was just sweet Starco goodness, but honestly I do still really like season 3 and don't feel ruined on the experience myself. I do think the fanbase would be nicer if more people were that way, I havn't, thankfully, experienced it myself but I have heard stories of fans hating on others for liking a ship they didn't support. *sigh* Honestly, now that I think about you are probably right, they wouldn't use my girl Jackie they way I want them to considering "Club Snubbed", what a shame. I just hope things don't end badly with Tom, because I actually really like the dynamic he shares with Star and Marco. The reason I did make sure Jackie and all of them weren't used that way is for the exact reason that they should be more than just love rivals and instead just good, supportive friends.**

 **Finally, that is totally why I ditched the idea pretty early on, because I realized love rival was a pointless drama that wouldn't go anywhere or add anything and felt more like just a cheap trick. My story is fine as is.**

 **Thanks I will!**

 **Gamelover41592- Thanks, I wanted it to be more lighthearted in comparison to the last one. Moon and River are fun and good characters so I'm glad I was able to finally give them a part in this story, it was long overdue! We'll just see how the peace part goes, but hopefully things will turn out well for everyone! Thank you, that is so sweet! :)**

 **OmegaDelta- Yeah, hopefully Star and Marco can turn that around! Thank you I will!**

 **ravangel- Haha, glad you've stuck with me for so long! I'm glad that this moment has come myself! Starco is the best! :) Sorry for the super long wait, hope you are still with me! Here's a quick hug though for your troubles and wait. *gives super big, bone-crushing hug* Hugs! Oh sorry, hope that wasn't too hard, I might have overdid it a bit! Anyways, hope you enjoy this one, friend!**

 **Jaffa3- Thank you so much! *blushes* And yes of course I responded to each! I always enjoy getting any and all comments and want to let you all know that. This is just the closest way I can come to expressing how much they always mean to me. They really do push me forward and keep me writing! Plus it's nice to get to talk to you all in some way!**

 **Well, wait no longer, cause here it is! *gives wide flourish* Hope you enjoy the ball!**

 **The Intelligent Otaku 556- Well, thank you so much! It's always incredible to me to have one of my storied being called a masterpiece or finding out it bring so much joy to others! It's a great feeling to know, none the less! You know what else is great? Starco being official on this story! Whoooo! And I can answer your question: older Starco will be just as cute and adorable as young Starco, because those two dorks will never get tired of being together! I have a lot planned for this season trust me, though don't expect Marco to turn into some sort of karate or swordsman master like in the show, he's not gonna be super big on fighting in this one! But he will do his part, rest assured! Thank you for the kind words, friend! *Returns thumbs up***

 **allen Vth- Yeah, it won't be an easy path, but without Toffee there to continue to poison the minds of the other Monsters I think they will be more open to the idea and, luckily, Moon and River have sided with Star and Marco so they can now work on undoing years of hate and prejudice and hopefully get more rights to the mistreated Monsters. Also, General Skullnick is not against the Monsters because they are Monsters, she is against them because they were the enemy, one she has spent years fighting against, so she isn't quick to trust her long-time foe. Also no, she wasn't human, she is a very rare species of troll from another dimension who came to live on Mewni when she was a kid and used her Monster-like look to act as a spy for the Mewmans. Sorry for the confusion there.**

 **Monkey lover 911- You are so welcome, it's because of awesome people like you I am even writing this story in the first place! Sorry for the long wait, my friend, but here it is at last, hope you enjoy the blood moon!**

 **CallmeTaylor- That's okay, I've read so many and never left a comment, even sometimes promising to and then taking forever to actually get around to doing it! Ugh, why am I so lazy, sometimes? I don't want any of my readers to feel pressured or expected to leave a comment, but it is always pleasant and nice to get one, regardless, especially from someone new to the story! So, that being said, thank you for reading and so glad you enjoyed it! I try my very best to create the best stories I can and it's always nice to know it didn't go unnoticed! Well here is the next one, so hope it lives up to your expectations and I do actually have a second story going now! Don't feel you have to read it, though. No pressure, I swear! And I will continue to do my best going forward! Thanks again friend!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	21. The Bodyguard

Chapter 20: The Bodyguard

 **Hey Stardom, thDorkMagnet is back and wishing you all thanks for all the favorites, follows and reviews from all you beautiful people! Hope you all had a great holiday and a wonderful start to the new year!**

 **So here it is, the new chapter! This one is probably a bit of more of a side-story but I thought it was a good fit here and had a ton of fun writing it. Also, this chapter is thanks to none other than allen Vth who reminded me this character existed and I had to find a way to put her into the story somewhere. Hope you enjoy this one, allen Vth! And I hope the rest of you do too! Love you all!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs the Forces of Evil and all its characters are owned by Disney and its creator Daron Nefcy. All rights go to them.**

Marco felt like there might be something wrong with his feet. It was an odd thing to wonder, admittedly, but Marco couldn't seem to push the thought out. He had just been going about his morning, humming happily to himself on his way to visit Star that lovely morning, wanting to surprise her at whatever meeting she was in with her parents (she had been in those a lot lately), when he realized that his footsteps seemed... louder than usual. Much louder. Noticeably louder, in fact, and he began to ponder to himself what it was that could have changed about his feet overnight.

He looked down at them as he walked, frowning as he tried to make sense of the noticeable echo he heard ringing off of the brightly lit hallways of Butterfly Castle. He didn't get it, they looked the same as always, no different than any other day as far as he could tell. He studied them closer, trying to see if there was something else he was missing. He was wearing the same shoes he wore everyday, his favorite pair of brown sneakers, so that couldn't be the reason. He wasn't walking faster or stepping any harder than usual, just his normal pace and walk.

Marco was stumped, unable to think of anything that could be causing them to make more noise than usual. And yet he could still hear the loud footfall stepping in time to his. If he didn't know any better, he would swear it almost sounded like there was a second set of footsteps following along in time to his.

He wondered if he was just being paranoid, still on edge from everything that had happened over the last couple of days. He certainly wouldn't be the only one.

It was a few days since the Blood Moon Ball, but the effect the night had had still had a strong hold on many people. Luckily, no one outside of Butterfly Castle (expect for Tom) was aware of what had transpired that night, the king and the queen able to keep the neighboring kingdoms in the dark about what had happened and General Skullnick forbidding any of her knights from speaking so much as a word about the assassin's successful infiltration into the heart of Mewni's stronghold.

Things had been rather chaotic for the first few days as River and Moon tried desperately to locate their daughter's assailant, but with no apparent luck. The Monster could have escaped away to any dimension in the universe and they were too numerous to even count or keep track of. Finding Rasticore was like finding a needle in a galaxy-wide haystack, it was essentially impossible. And without any real leads or clues as to where the Monster could be hiding, the monarchs only choices were to just blindly search any dimension they could in hopes of getting lucky... or waiting until Rasticore decided to inevitably strike again, though neither of them would dare allow that option to come to pass, hoping that the assassin's promise to return would somehow fall flat. And so the search parties continued their meaningless task as they indiscreetly scoured the known universe, while everyone else did their best to hide their dishonesty from the public's knowledge.

Finally, though, things had seemed to calm down some, as the panic wore off and life in Butterfly Castle returned to normal. Or what seemed to be normal, as everyone in the castle still seemed noticeably off, as they all seemed to be trying to deal with the situation in their own way. Star had been stuck in meeting after meeting with her parents as they tried to decide on the best course of action regarding the rest of the Monsters moving forward, Skullnick and her knights seemed downright paranoid, Jackie had been out skateboarding in her make-shift training ground for days straight, explaining to Marco that skating was her stress relief and even Janna had been keeping to herself more than usual, acting more cryptic and guarded, even for her.

And now it seemed the stress had finally gotten to Marco, too, as he was now hearing extra footsteps as he walked. He came to a stop, wanting to see if the sound would continue on without him, but to his surprise the echoing footsteps ceased as well. He took a few more steps forward, before stopping again, listening intensely as the hallway went quiet again. He did this a few more times, experimenting with different amounts of footsteps each time, but always with the same result. He looked thoughtfully down at his feet again as he rubbed his chin, humming quizzically to himself.

He did a quick survey of the room, to see if maybe he missed something and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a teenage girl standing a short distance away. Marco could tell that she had been following him, the girl keeping at a close, but respectful distance at all times and he knew at once that she had to be culprit of the noisy footsteps.

She had a mop of short red hair, with large green eyes and a face full of freckles, as well as a pair of purple Fleur-de-lis on her cheeks. She wore what appeared to be a knight's uniform, complete with a blue tunic which was held to her frame by a red belt, pale red shoulder blades with a spike sticking out of the top, and red boots over her white pants. Her arms were also wrapped in some sort of yellow armbands that stretched from her hands to her elbows. She stood at full attention, trying to look relaxed and at ease, but Marco could tell from her solid stance and stony stare that she was ready to pounce on the first thing that moved, which was quite intimidating to the awkward and shy Marco. And to make matters worse for him, she was keeping a narrowed gaze on his form, watching him like a hawk. He did notice, though, a slight twitch above her eye, as if she was fighting back raising an eyebrow at the boy and to Marco's horror, he realized that she must have seen him staring at his feet earlier, taking weird steps forward before stopping randomly.

And with this realization the hoodie-wearing boy felt his cheeks pool with blood, looking away from the girl in embarrassment. He continued forward, making sure to keep his head down as he walked, wanting to just get to Star as quickly as he could without embarrassing himself any further. He silently begged the girl to please turn the other way and leave him alone, but unfortunately for him, he heard the steady footfall behind him as the redhead just followed silently behind. He picked up his pace even more, feeling the girl's stare burning into the back of his head, practically rushing to find his Star, in hopes she could save him from this situation.

…

Star stepped out of the castle's meeting room, letting out the first deep breath since being trapped in the suffocating space, glad to finally be freed from her claustrophobia and able to get some fresh air for the first time in hours. She sucked in a deep breath, letting all her stress and tension melt off of her. She had felt like the meeting would never end, the intense discussion a bit more than she wanted to take first thing in the morning. She stretched for a minute, her back sore from sitting for so long in the extremely uncomfortable chairs.

But as her muscles finally began to relax, her mind started reeling with questions and worries. Things in the meeting hadn't exactly gone as planned, to say the least, and she couldn't help but wonder if her and her parents were up to the task of fixing Mewni. Sure, at first it had seemed doable but now there seemed to be new complications every day, as if the universe was intent of foiling Star's peaceful vision. There was still so much that needed to be done and now she was feeling even more pressured to fix things as fast as she could. She was free, for now, but she still had a lot to think about and figure out, many points brought up in the meeting sticking to her mind and making her feel anxious.

And to make matters worse, she could swear she was forgetting something, as it seemed through all the chaos of the last couple days (and that morning alone to be honest), she had neglected to do something. She bit her lip, as she tried to recall what exactly it was that had slipped her mind, only to draw a blank every time. "I was supposed to tell someone something, wasn't I?" she asked herself, aloud. "Yeah I think that was it," she replied to her own question, cocking her head to the side as she continued to ponder the forgotten task. "But what was it?" She was really starting to feel concerned, as it seemed now her stress was making her forgetful on top of everything else.

But she didn't have long to dwell on this, as her burning thoughts were interrupted and quickly disregarded as she heard a shout further down the hallway, Star overjoyed as she recognized the familiar call of her hoodie-wearing bestie, her heart swelling as he screamed her name. "Star!"

Star turned to Marco with a smile as he raced quickly over, opening her arms wide for the hug that was inevitably coming. This was just what Star needed on that stress-filled morning, Star unable to think of anything else that could brighten her spirits more than spending some time with her adorable bestie. But once the boy got close enough, rather than hug her, he quickly grabbed onto her arm, looking nervous and flustered, his face a deep red that rivaled that of his hoodie. "Marco, what's wrong?" Star questioned, unsure what was causing the boy so much distress.

"Is she gone?!" he replied, in a loud whisper, his eyes looking everywhere but behind him.

"Is who gone?" Star asked.

"There's this girl who's been following me around all morning," he quickly explained. "She just keeps staring at me and it's really freaking me out!"

"Good morning, Your Majesty," came the sudden, formal reply from the redhead, who had closed the distance between the two during their conversation. Marco released a high-pitched scream, jumping a full foot before looking at the girl in shock and surprise, backing away some, now leaning against Star. The redhead did her best to keep a blank face at the boy's girlish yell as she addressed her ruler, bowing in respect to the blond royal. "I am here to inform you that the first objective of my mission has been successful. As you can see, the target has been safely delivered to you with zero complications," she said in a loud, strong tone. But her voice faltered a bit, as she added in a bit more skeptical a voice, "Though it has been noted that the target does display a strange fascination with feet."

Marco blushed at the comment, though he understood little else of what she was saying, most of it sounding like gibberish to him. _Target, objective, mission?_ What did any of that have to do with her following him around all morning. He turned to Star with a look of total confusion hoping she would understand what was going on. "Star, what is she talking about?" Marco asked, cupping a hand over his mouth to help him relay his question without being heard by the other girl, but in reality, it was easily picked up by the still bowing redhead.

"Oh right," Star said, snapping her fingers as she finally remembered _this_ is what she had been planning on telling Marco. She couldn't believe she had forgotten, she had spent several days arranging this for him, wanting it to be a surprise. But judging from his reaction she was starting to think maybe that wasn't the best idea. For the record, she had actually been planning on telling him that morning, trying to specifically avoid springing it on him like this, knowing he would react this way, but had become distracted by the early morning meeting. Oh well, not much she could do about it now, she would just have to deal with it as is.

So, Star put an arm around the hooded teen as she explained, "Marco, this is Higgs, your new bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Marco repeated in confusion.

"That's right," Star said, with a smile. "She's going to be keeping an eye on you for a while, to make sure you're kept safe."

Higgs finally stood, just watching the boy intensely, which was only making him feel even more anxious.

"But I didn't ask for a bodyguard," Marco pointed out.

"No, that's because _I_ assigned her to _you_ ," Star explained. "And I picked a good one, too, if I do say so myself. She came highly recommended, actually. She passed her squire training with flying colors and is one of the youngest knights in Mewni's history. At this rate, she's sure to be one of the best knights in this dimension, possibly the whole galaxy! If anyone can keep you safe, she can," Star finished reassuringly, giving the boy a quick pat on the shoulders.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Higgs said, with a slight bow.

"Yeah but, I mean, is all this fuss really necessary for me," Marco said, his humble/self-conscious side showing through, making Star mentally gush over his sweetness. "Don't you think she'd be better served watching someone more important?"

"Nonsense, Marco," Star said, waving off his concern with a quick hug. "You're my boyfriend so you deserve the very best." She followed this up with a peck on the cheek that caused Marco to flush.

Marco smiled shyly, putting a hand to his blushing cheek, but it quickly turned to a frown as he asked, "Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but do you really think I need a bodyguard?"

Star hesitated before answering, turning to Higgs and asking, "Could you please give us a minute?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," Higgs responded with a grand bow, before walking further down the hallway, giving the royal and her boyfriend their space. Star turned back to Marco, seeing the doubt on his face and couldn't help but feel a little silly about all the fuss, herself. She knew she was probably being paranoid assigning Marco a bodyguard, but she couldn't help but worry about his safety. She still had flashes of Marco's capture by Toffee, how helpless and powerless she had been to protect him, first when Marco had willingly gone with the lizard to save _her_ and then when she had allowed Marco to literally slip out of her grasp and right into Toffee's. She had come so close to losing Marco, only sheer luck allowing her to harness the power of the wand to save him and there was still a part of her that hated her past self's actions that day, mentally chastising her every move and mistake as she replayed the events over and over again in her mind. She could have easily prevented the near disaster, but instead she nearly caused the death of the boy she lov- erh, cared _sooo_ much about.

And just a few days ago, that fear had resurfaced tenfold. Rasticore had been targeting her, but Marco had once again nearly paid the price. If Janna hadn't shown up, Star wasn't sure if she could have protected him and Rasticore had not seemed willing to spare the boy, his threat to make Marco suffer the same fate sending chills down Star's spine, even now. So maybe it was paranoia egging her on, but she couldn't help and feel the need to make sure Marco was as safe as could be. Especially with Rasticore still out there. And assigning the best of the best to watch over him, gave her some sense of relief in that matter.

"Look," Star finally said, trying to find the best way to word all this to her naïve bestie. "I just... I would... feel much better if you did."

Marco merely nodded, not wanting to upset Star, but still feeling unsure about having someone following him around everywhere, his eyebrows pinched together in a tight frown as he self-consciously wrapped an arm around himself. "I'm just... not really sure, Star," he muttered, looking sheepishly at her.

Star nodded, understanding his hesitation, Higgs could come across too strong at times and she knew too well how awkward and shy Marco could be around strangers, reminded of their first meeting and how he had run away when she had caught him spying on her. She mentally chuckled at the memory, before adding, "Just... try this for a few days, okay." She wrapped her hands around one of his, ignoring how soft and warm and right it felt. "For me."

Marco just looked deep into her eyes for a second, reading her expression easily, seeing her need shining in her stunning pupils as he thought it over. And as he did, he had that same bizarre sensation from the other night as he felt a second heartbeat inside his chest, nearly jumping at the unexpected pulse. But that was all it took, as just like that, he wanted to agree, Star's peace of mind more important to him than a little discomfort on his part, right?

But before giving her his answer he needed to know something first, so he went ahead and asked, "And... if it doesn't work out?"

"Then, that's it," Star reassured. "No more guards, I promise." The royal raised a hand in the air to show she was telling the truth.

Marco took a deep breath, before finally agreeing with a nod, "Okay then, I'll give it a try. For you Star."

"Great!" Star said pleasantly, a bright smile on her face, as she lead her boyfriend closer to his new guard, the boy at once going stiff with worry. "Then let me introduce you two properly."

Before Marco could argue or run, he found himself facing in front of the stern redhead, her piercing green gaze still unnerving to the hooded teen. "Okay, so Marco has agreed to give this thing a try, Higgs, to see if he feels comfortable with having someone guarding him 24/7," Star said cheerfully.

"That sounds excellent, Your Majesty," Higgs replied, her voice never losing its formality. Marco just smiled awkwardly, trying to fight back the blush he kept feeling trying to surface on his cheeks. The moment, stretched out for a bit too long, the silence nearly driving Marco insane.

"So then, do you two, maybe, I don't know, want to try talking to each other, instead of just staring at each other," Star pushed, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Marco tried to obey the wishes of his bestie as he opened his mouth to say something, but Higgs suddenly thrust her hand out to the boy, causing him to flinch. He did accept the offer though, shaking her hand gingerly, as if afraid it would break. Higgs didn't seem to notice this, though, as she said, "I am happy to be given the pleasure of working for you, Marco."

"R-Right," Marco stuttered, giving her an awkward smile.

As the two continued to shake hands, Star optimistically supplied, "I know you two are gonna get along just fine."

"I'm certain we will," Higgs said, with a kind smile, but something felt off about it to Marco, almost fake.

But Star didn't seem to notice this, as she clapped her hands together, saying in a sweet, but commanding tone, "So then, why don't you please escort Marco to the dining hall, Higgs. I'm sure he must be starving by now."

"Wait, you're not coming?" Marco asked, disappointed.

"I'm just going to get changed," Star said, gesturing down to her princess dress. "I'll just meet up with you later, okay?"

"Okay," Marco said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, before walking off down the hall, waving back to his girlfriend as he did.

Higgs started to follow, but was stopped as Star put a hand on her shoulder, quickly saying, "Wait just a second, please, Higgs. There's something I need to tell you."

"Yes, what is it, Princess Star?" Higgs asked.

"I've been really worried about Marco's safety lately..." Star admitted, her sky blue eyes filling with fear for a few seconds, before she let out a breath, composing herself once again. "So I really appreciate you be willing to watch over him for me."

Higgs seemed surprised by this, but she replied in a strong, sure tone, "Of course, Your Majesty. I will do my very best to protect him."

"I know you will," Star said with a soft smile. "But... Marco is a little bit shy sometimes and I'm afraid he's a little put-off by the idea of being followed around all day by someone he doesn't know. And from what I've heard you can be a bit more..." Star paused, looking for the right word to use. "...direct than others. So please try and give him as much space as you can. If you do, I promise he will open up on his own."

Higgs nodded, giving Star a smile that showed she understood. "Don't worry, My Princess," Higgs said, reassuringly. "I understand completely."

"Good," Star said, with a curt nod, finally removing her hands from the girl's shoulder plates and allowing her to follow after the hooded boy. "Then I will leave you to it."

Higgs did one final bow, before turning on her heels and following steadily after the boy. Star watched her go for a few seconds before heading down the other end of the hallway herself, feeling good about the two's situation, knowing Marco would be safe in Higgs' capable hands.

But if she had been paying closer attention, she would have noticed that Higg's smile had dropped, replaced instead with a very concerning frown, one that was focused entirely on Marco's unguarded back.

…

Marco was almost to the dining room, already able to smell the delicious aroma of freshly cooked bacon, when he was grabbed from behind and shoved into the nearest wall. The boy squeaked in surprise, as his back collided with the wall, though it was more startling than painful, as Marco looked up to see Higgs right in his face, a look of almost anger in her eyes, making the hooded boy shrink into himself.

"Wh-What are you-" Marco started, but he was cut off, as Higgs spoke in a harsh voice.

"Okay, listen here, pipsqueak," she said, the change in her tone unnerving Marco. "I don't care if you are the princesses boyfriend or not, but you are not going to ruin my one big chance to win the princesses favor. I need it if I'm going to continue rising to the top. I have worked long and hard to get here and I'm not gonna give it up just because the person they assigned me to is _a_ _little bit shy_." Marco felt embarrassment as she mockingly said the last bit, rolling her eyes.

"And I've heard all about your reputation, too," she continued, ignoring the boy's flushing cheeks.

"I-I'm not sure what you mean," Marco muttered in confusion, not sure what 'reputation' she was talking about.

"Oh don't give me that," Higgs scoffed. "I've heard all the rumors and I don't have time to deal with any of that right now. Princess Star has entrusted me with your safety and I can't afford any mistakes, which means there are going to be some major changes starting right now."

Marco tried to speak up, but only squeaked again as she stabbed a finger into his chest. "So here is how this is going to go. From now on, you are gonna do exactly as I say, when I say it, no questions asked. Got it?"

Marco nodded, wide-eyed, not daring to open his mouth again.

"Good," she said, backing away finally and giving the boy some space to breath, as her smile returned. "Glad we got that settled. Now let's get you something to eat."

With that she walked off, leaving a very confused Marco behind, as he continued to ponder what it was that Higgs had heard that was so bad about him.

…

Jackie and Janna were already eating as Marco and Higgs entered into the dining room, chatting amongst themselves as they ate the delicious breakfast. Once they heard the door open, though, they both turned to Marco with a smile, Jackie greeting him cheerfully, "Sup, dude!"

Marco's frown instantly switched to one of his bright smiles as he spotted his two friends and gave them a quick wave. "Hey Jacks! Hey Jan! Good morning!" Both girls did note though, that it seemed less enthusiastic than usual, still both deciding to ignore it for now, figuring the boy was still waking up.

"So where's Star?" Jackie asked as Marco approached the large table. "She still in her meeting?"

"Nah, she just finished up, she'll be here soon," Marco responded, as he slid into his usual seat.

"Well it's nice to see you joining us," Janna replied teasingly, before passing the boy a napkin, as he was already drooling over his breakfast. He quickly took it, laying it out on his lap. But Janna's face quickly switched to one of shock and suspicion as Higgs took her place beside Marco's chair. "And I see you are joining us, as well," she said to Higgs, raising an eyebrow at the stranger. Next to her, Jackie also seemed equally surprised as one of the unfamiliar castle servants hung so close to her hoodie-wearing friend. Janna eyed the redheads uniform up and down for a second. "Uhhh, squire I'm guessing."

"Knight actually," Higgs said proudly, just a hint of superiority in her tone, clearly trying to show off.

"Aren't you a little young to be a knight?" Jackie asked.

"I got promoted early," she explained, lifting her head up enough so that she was looking down at them, with a condescending grin on her face, as if the two were jealous of that fact.

"Rigggghhht," Janna said, raising an eyebrow at the girl, not at all envious of the girl's high position. There was an awkward tension for a few seconds as they waited for the strange redhead to introduce herself, but Higgs seemed content to just silently judge the both of them and they could tell by the way she was looking at them that she clearly did not like what she was seeing.

So instead, Jackie turned to the very hungry Marco, who was busy cutting his food with his knife, giving him a long look, before clearing her throat, trying to get his attention. "Marco, do you maybe want to introduce us?" Jackie asked, finally pulling Marco's focus away from the delicious food on his plate... well, mostly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, this is Higgs, my new bodyguard," he said absentmindedly, his eyes still lingering on the steaming food that sat temptingly on his plate, though Jackie could tell he was purposefully avoiding looking in Higgs' direction.

"Bodyguard? Since when do you need a bodyguard?" Janna asked, skeptically.

"Since Princess Star assigned me to him," Higgs explained.

"And when did this happen?" Janna asked.

"Just late last night," Higgs retorted. "My official duties began this morning."

"And you're okay with this," Jackie asked Marco, the boy finally looking deep into her eyes, giving her a tight smile.

"Yeah, no, it's fine," he said, though he seemed anything but okay with it, his fingers now fiddling with his silverware.

His two friends shared a look, before Janna asked, "You sure?"

"Well, Star thinks it's a good idea and she's usually not wrong about these things," he muttered quietly.

"And I assure you, she isn't," Higgs spoke up. "I am more than capable of protecting Marco."

Janna leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "And what makes you qualified for that, exactly."

"Basically everything," Higgs countered, her tone becoming harder. "I'm actually pretty famous around here. Most people are aware of my talents and don't typically question them."

"Funny, I've never heard of you before," Janna said, her smirky tone becoming more sharp than usual. "So I guess I'm questioning them."

"That is rather funny, because y'know I've heard a lot about _you_ , Janna," Higgs shot back, putting her hands on the table. "And I am also questioning what kind of an influence you are having on Star Butterfly's boyfriend."

"How so?" Janna asked, a smile spreading across her face, letting Jackie and Marco know she was now enjoying herself, unbeknownst to the very upset Higgs.

"Well, you do have a bit of a record around here: stealing, sneaking about, scaring the diplomats when they come around, general disregard for authority, and last, but not least, are the supposed culprit of several fires on the castle grounds." Higgs gave Janna a long glare, as she finished listing off the heinous crimes, waiting for Janna to react to being called out on her trouble-making ways.

But Janna just continued to smirk, taking a bite of her meal and ignoring the lingering gaze on her. "Ohhh good someone finally caught on," Janna replied. "Maybe you aren't completely hopeless after all."

Higgs didn't know how to react to this, finally lifting herself up off the table and just giving the creepy girl a very confused look, which she was trying to keep firm. All she said was, "Yeah, well, I'm watching you," though it sounded very halfhearted compared to everything else she had said to the girl. "And I won't be letting you get away with anything else on my watch."

"Good, I like a challenge," Janna said, leaning her head against her arm with a taunting gaze.

Jackie just rolled her eyes at her roommates behavior. "Jan," she said, giving the creepy girl's arm a light smack. "Can't you at least pretend to be sorry for causing so much trouble."

"I think you know better than that, Jacks," Janna replied unapologetically.

Marco, glad the attention was finally off himself, went to take a bite of his food, stabbing his fork into the freshly cooked eggs, the yolk running out over his plate as he did, creating a delectable scent that made his stomach growl like crazy. He raised the fork, bringing the food closer and closer to his open and waiting mouth.

Until suddenly, out of nowhere, the fork was smacked out of his hand, making the boy cry out in surprise. "Don't eat that!" Marco heard Higgs cry in a panic. But Marco didn't process the urgency or fear laced in her tone, all he could do was watch with growing sadness as the utensil tumbled to the floor, ruining a perfectly good bite of food.

"My breakfast," he mumbled in heartbreak, reaching a hand out toward the discarded fork.

"Geez, what was that about?" Janna asked, her and Jackie giving the knight a glare.

"Yeah, seriously, look what you did to poor Marco," Jackie said, gesturing to the boy, who was rubbing at the hand Higgs had smacked, awkwardly.

But Higgs didn't seem bothered by this, as she gave an exasperated sigh, before explaining to them, "Well, obviously, I can't let Marco eat any food before it's been tested first for poison."

"What?" Jackie questioned in disbelief. "That's ridiculous. Why would someone in the castle try and poison Marco?"

"Not that I have to explain myself to you civilians, but it's better to be safe than sorry," the young knight defended herself.

"Uhh, hate to break it to you, but we've been eating the food this whole time and we're just fine," Janna pointed out.

"Yeah, but that also means that the food has been left here unguarded with you two this whole time," Higgs said, pointing an accusing finger at them.

Janna rose up from her seat. "Whoa wait, hang on. You aren't seriously saying we would try and poison our best friend, now would you?" Janna said with a glare.

"Well if the shoe fits," Higgs replied, crossing her arms. "I certainty wouldn't put it past you."

"Okay, stealing and stuff is one thing, but I would never hurt Marco," Janna shot back, sounding genuinely insulted at the very idea of it.

"Yeah, Marco's our friend, we care about him," Jackie added, also rising from her chair.

"And I certainty wouldn't stoop to poisoning him of all things, that's just unimaginative," Janna said with disgust.

Jackie was silent for a moment, a look of annoyance on her face. "Jan," Jackie finally muttered, giving her a deadpanned stare. "You're not helping us."

Meanwhile, Marco slowly lowered himself more in his seat, until he was practically hiding beneath the table, his face set in a grimace. He didn't want his friends to be arguing with his new bodyguard, knowing how badly Star wanted this to work. He looked to the doors, knowing Star could come through them any minute. He needed to find a way to make this better.

"Guys," Marco interrupted, drawing all three girl's attention onto him. He gave his two friends a halfhearted smile. "Look, it's okay. Higgs is just trying to be careful, I'm sure she doesn't really think you'd try and poison me. So why don't we just have someone test the food so I can eat," he suggested.

Jackie and Janna stared at Marco in shock for a second, looking like they were on the verge of saying something, but Higgs clapped her hands together, drawing all eyes onto her, as she said, "Excellent idea, Marco! Glad you see it my way!" She started heading for the door, saying, "I will go find someone for the job, right away!"

Jackie and Janna waited until the door was closed and Higgs was gone before turning back to Marco with concerned looks, the hooded boy keeping his eyes on his plate. Even then, he could still feel their stares burning into his skin. "Marco, what's was that?" Jackie asked, taking her seat again.

"It's nothing don't worry about," Marco muttered.

"Nothing," Janna retorted. "You acted like her hitting that fork out of your hand was a normal thing."

Marco was silent for a second, before he finally looked at them with a pleading glance. "Look, it's only for a few days, okay? Just until Star's more at ease about all of this. She's been worrying about me a lot lately and if this helps her, then I need to at least try and put up with it. So, until then, can you guys just try and support me on this, please?" he asked.

As always, Marco's begging face weakened their resolve, until Jackie just sighed and said, "Of course we will, Marco. If that's what you think is best."

Marco breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said to her.

Janna just plopped back down in her seat, crossing her arms. "Well, will you at least let me play a prank on her or something for saying I would try and kill you," she asked, seriously.

"Uh, didn't you scare Marco into thinking you were gonna kill him when you first met?" Jackie reminded her.

Janna scoffed. "That was a joke, obviously," the creepy girl said with a roll of her eyes.

"I didn't think it was very funny," Marco pointed out.

"Yeah, exactly," Janna replied. "I was helping you expand your humor a little. This is different. And I think it's only fair for me to get back at her for what she said. In fact, I've already got a few ideas in mind," she added, a playful, yet somehow disturbing smile spreading on her face, showing off her fangs, as she seemed to be thinking over whatever no doubt bad thing she had in mind for the young knight.

"No," Marco replied, instantly shooting down any kind of retaliation his creepy friend had planned. "No doing anything to Higgs."

Janna just leaned her head against her hand once more, sighing in depression, as she said, "You're no fun."

…

Breakfast passed by quickly, Higgs having one of the guards test the food, not allowing Marco to eat any of his meal until the Mewman confirmed it was safe. Once Marco did get to eat though, he found that his food was now cold, but not wanting to make a fuss he didn't say anything, just eating his food in silence. Besides, hot or not, it was still delicious, the new cook continuing to outdo himself.

Star did eventually show up, sitting down next to Marco, giving her friends a sheepish smile. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," she apologized as she unfolded her napkin.

"No problem," Jackie said, giving the young royal a smile.

"And I see you two already met Higgs, huh?" Star commented, looking at the freckled girl who stood at attention at Marco's side. Both Jackie and Janna looked like they wanted to speak up about their true feelings toward Marco's new bodyguard, but a quick, pleading look from Marco silenced anything they could have said against the idea.

"Yeah, and it was quite the introduction," Janna said, successfully hiding the venom in her tone, but her choice of words caused Star to raise an eyebrow.

"How so?" Star asked. Marco coughed once, drawing his friend's attention, as he gave the creepy girl a knowing look.

Jackie quickly interrupted before Janna could explain, saying, "Just that her credentials left quite the impression on us, is all. She certainly knows her stuff."

"Well thank you, Miss Lynn-Thomas," Higgs said graciously, even giving a small, humble bow in her direction, her holier-than-thou attitude from before replaced with the stiff, formal persona of a typical knight. This massive change, didn't go unnoticed by either Jackie or Janna, as they just gave her empty stares, letting her know that they knew she was faking and they weren't buying it, which Higgs simply ignored. "I am always happy to be of service," she added, with a voice just dripping of syrup and Janna nearly gagged at how fake and forced the line was. She did however roll her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

Star just nodded, seemingly unaware of the intense little struggle going on at the table. "Oh well, that's good," she said, in reaction to what Jackie had said. "Glad you all are getting along." She turned to look at Marco, who was feeling quite relieved that things had gone smoothly so far. "So Marco, what are your plans for the day?" Star asked, laying a hand on his and giving it a small squeeze.

"Oh well, um," Marco said not sure how to answer. In truth, he had been planning on visiting Buff Frog and the other Monsters, but had a feeling Higgs probably wouldn't go for that. Still, he had been really hoping his frog father would be able to tell him more about his parents, as well as get some much needed attention from his family that he craved. The last he had spoken to any of them was right after the ball, when Buff Frog had called up to check up on him and ask how the ball had gone, Marco recalling the conversation perfectly.

…

 _"It was amazing, Buff Frog!" Marco had exclaimed, his joy and energy seeping through the cellphone as he spoke, literally shaking with excitement and enthusiasm. "You should have seen it! One minute everything was normal and the next, me and Star's whole bodies were lit up red! And she looked so beautiful! And it felt so weird, but not like a bad weird, like a good weird, like a really good weird!" Marco sighed dreamily, as he recalled the magical moment, feeling his suns burning, probably from his blush. "And afterwards, we danced together out in the castle garden. And Star even sang while we did. She has a beautiful singing voice, I kinda hope she'll sing to me more often." Marco rubbed at his blushing cheek, chuckling awkwardly at what he had just blurted out._

 _"Sounds like you two had good time," Buff Frog had replied, sounding equally delighted for the boy's successful first date._

 _"Yeah we did, It was perfect," Marco said, his tone a joyful whisper._

 _"I so proud and happy for you, my boy," Buff Frog added, which caused the hooded boy's heart to swell. "And so would be parents."_

 _Marco froze at these words, reminded of what he had been wanting to talk to Buff Frog about in the first place. "Um, about that," Marco said, already feeling anxious about wording this to his dad without worrying him, not sure if he should bring up the lizard assassin's attack and attempted kidnapping to his overprotective father._

 _"Someone at the ball... c-called me Marco Diaz." He sucked in a breath, as he awaited his frog father's reply. For a few intense seconds, there was no response from the other end of the phone, Marco afraid Buff Frog had just hung up on him. "Dad?" Marco questioned, biting his lip._

 _"I... I see," Buff Frog replied, sounding quite shell-shocked. "And who was this?"_

 _"Umm, I don't remember," Marco lied. "But is it true," he quickly blurted, his heart aching for the answer. "Is my last name Diaz?"_

 _"Da, is true," had come the reply, causing Marco to release the breath he had been holding in. "Your parents name was Diaz." This conformation had made Marco feel giddy, smiling like crazy._

 _Of course, once one question had been answered he had followed it up with a million more, as question after question poured out of the boy with no sign of stopping, asking everything he could think of or had ever wondered before without even pausing to take a breath, hungry for the answers Toffee had purposely kept from him growing up. "Did you know them? What did they look like? How did they first meet? When did they get married? Did they know the other Monsters, too? How was I born? Why did-"_

 _Finally, Buff Frog had interrupted the boy from his bombardment of questions, saying, "Marco."_

 _The boy finally stopped, listening to his father over the phone. "Yeah, dad?" he asked, so Buff Frog knew he was listening._

 _"I know you have million questions and I promise I tell you everything, but right now it is late and you need your sleep."_

 _Marco had known the Monster was right, but he still had at least needed to know how soon Buff Frog would finally give him the full story. "Okay, but when? When will you tell me?"_

 _There was silence from the other end of the phone for a second, but to Marco it had felt like an eternity. "In few days," came the reply. Marco felt his heart sink._

 _"A few days," Marco repeated, his throat tight. "Why so long?"_

 _"I sorry, my boy." Marco could hear the regret and guilt in his father's tone, even through the phone. "We so busy right now, I don't have time."_

 _Marco sighed, before trying to make his voice as cheerful as he could, as he had said, "That's okay, I understand. I know things are crazy right now. Honestly, it's probably for the best, there's been... a lot going on over here, too."_

 _"Thank you for understanding, Marco," Buff Frog said. "You good boy."_

 _"Thanks, dad," Marco had replied, blinking back the tears he felt welling up in his eyes, unsure if they were from being praised by his adopted father or from the fact that he knew he had to wait several days before finding out the truth about his flesh and blood._

 _"Goodnight, Marco," Buff Frog had said._

 _"Goodnight," the boy replied, before hanging up._

…

Luckily, the boy didn't dwell on this too much after, the next couple of days passing by in such a hectic blur that Marco had barely even thought about the conversation... much, too distracted by everyone's panicking to think of anything else. But now that things had settled down, the thoughts had returned fresh to his inquisitive mind. Buff Frog still hadn't shown up and Marco was starting to grow impatient. Which was why he had come up with the idea that maybe if he visited Buff Frog himself that would get the frog to open up in the matter. But now, he had a new problem to deal with, having a feeling convincing his new bodyguard wouldn't be an easy task, considering their conversation back in the hallway.

 _Besides_ , he reasoned with himself, _Buff Frog is probably too busy right now to really be able to tell me the whole story, anyways._ Plus, he wasn't sure bringing around the suspicious Higgs to his Monster family would go well.

"Guess I don't really have any plans for the day," Marco finally replied with a shrug. "I'll just do whatever Higgs thinks is best for now."

Higgs didn't hesitate to speak up at that, quickly cutting in, "Well, in that case, Marco can just spend the day with me, Your Highness. That way I can keep a better eye on him... and hopefully get to know him a little better, too."

"Well that sounds like a great idea," Star said enthusiastically, before looking to her hooded boyfriend. "What do you think, Marco?"

Marco nodded, reminding himself to remain open to the idea, as he said, "Yeah, okay. That sounds good." It could be a good thing, after all, spending the day with Higgs. Maybe if he got to know her a little better, he wouldn't feel so intimidated and maybe the two of them could even become friends.

…

An hour later, Marco was already regretting agreeing to spend some one-on-one time with Higgs. As he quickly found out, the young knight was suspicious of everyone, not allowing a single soul to come anywhere near them, giving every servant who they passed a suspicious glare. One poor soul even made the horrible mistake of greeting the boy directly.

"Hey there, Marco!" the Mewman greeted cheerfully, looking happy and carefree as he went to give the boy a high five.

But before Marco could even return the pleasant gesture, Higgs grabbed the poor man by the wrist and threw him out the nearest window, the man screaming in horror on his way down. "But it's my birthday!"

Marco just gazed in horror at the window for a moment, before turning back to Higgs. "Why did you do that? He just wanted to give me a high five?" he asked, pointing to his still-waiting palm.

"Yeah and then he could have stabbed you in the back with a knife right afterwards," Higgs snappily replied, as if throwing an innocent civilian out a window was a completely normal thing to do. "Honestly, the evidence was all right there, Marco, I'm surprised you didn't see it." After getting a blank look from Marco she quickly explained. "Think about it. Some strange guy just randomly showed up in the castle all of a sudden and greets you as if he's know you his whole life." She reiterated this point by taking the time to scold Marco for his lack of thinking, "In fact, if anything you need to be more careful about who you interact with. You have to be more guarded around total strangers."

"But he wasn't a stranger," Marco argued. "He's worked here for like ten years."

Higgs froze, in total shock over this knowledge and looking at a loss for words of what to say next. The moment stretched on for far too long, before Marco finally spoke up in a sad voice, rubbing at his arm, "I didn't know his name but I think he was the castle decorator or something like that."

Higgs finally seemed to recover as she quickly waved off her actions like they were nothing. "Oh well, I'm sure he's fine," she said, before continuing through the castle, Marco following hesitantly behind her.

And that seemed to just be a typical reaction from Higgs, critical of everyone, with no regrets towards her actions, even if they were wrong. Still Marco did his very best to remain positive, hoping maybe the two of them could do a fun activity together to help them bond a bit. And after about an hour of just uncomfortably shuffling through Butterfly Castle he figured anything would be better than this. "So, uh, Higgs what do you like to do for fun?" Marco asked, hoping to find something they had in common.

She stopped walking, turning to him, before replying, "Train."

"Well, okay, other than that," Marco tried. "What do you like to do when your not, y'know, training?"

"Kill Monsters," came Higgs dry reply and Marco's eyes widened.

"O-Okay, um," Marco said, completely flustered by the response. "Going back to the first thing then," he nervously added, trying desperately to change the subject. He thought for a moment, before hesitantly saying, "Maybe I could... train with you or something?"

Higgs looked at Marco blankly for a second, before outright laughing at the suggestion, not even bothering to hide it, as she held onto her stomach, chuckling out of control. Marco, being Marco, didn't understand what it was that had caused such a sporadic laugh attack. "What? What did I say?" he asked in cute confusion.

"You... training..." Higgs managed to gasp out between gasps for breath. She finally managed to gain some control over herself as her laughter faded to a mild chuckle, wiping the tears that had welled up in her eyes and groaning a bit from her stomach ache, as she managed to say in a much more clear tone, "Yeah right, you would be dead within the first minute, loser."

Marco looked offended at the edition of loser, but argued (rather firmly for him), "I could handle myself."

A critical eyebrow raised as she looked at the scrawny toothpick in front of her, adding with a scoff, "Really, I highly doubt that."

"It's true. Just give me a chance."

"Look it's nothing personal. But I'm a professional, you wouldn't even be able to keep up with someone like me."

"Well, I tend to pick up on things pretty quickly." Higgs still looked unconvinced so Marco added, "At least let me try."

Higgs was silent for a second as she thought it over, rubbing a finger on her chin and Marco became concerned that maybe he had taken things too far, but finally she agreed, "Okay, you know what, fine. Let's see what you got, squirt."

"Yeah!" Marco cheered in victory, pumping a fist into the air, pleased at the chance to get to prove himself. But he was caught off guard, as suddenly Higgs slammed a hand into his back, knocking him to the ground, causing him to release a very girly scream.

"First rule of knight training: anything goes," she explained to the fallen boy with a small smile on her face as she stood over him.

"That doesn't make any sense," Marco groaned from the ground. "Why even bother having any rules then?"

…

Once Marco had recovered he silently followed Higgs into the large courtyard just outside of Butterfly Castle. He figured that was probably as good a place to train as any, but to his surprise the freckled knight pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors and opened a portal before them. "Wait, where are we going?" Marco asked in confusion. "I thought we were going to train."

"We are, but not here," Higgs replied. "You want to experience a real knight's training, then that's exactly what you are going to get, pipsqueak."

Marco didn't argue, as he instead stepped through the glowing vortex and into a whole new world. Marco, still new to dimensional travel, took a moment to get his bearings, as he found himself in a darkly lit world. They were on some kind of cliffside, overlooking a canyon filled with glowing crystals of all shapes and sizes and colors. Marco was mesmerized by them for a moment, before he turned back to the path before them, which curved around the mountainside lit by glowing green torches set up.

"Where are we?" Marco asked his bodyguard curiously, with pure awe in his voice.

"You'll see," Higgs answered mysteriously, gesturing with a sweeping hand toward the path, indicating to let him go first and Marco obeyed, traveling down the path with his bodyguard following close behind.

After a while the two seemed to reach their destination, a large building built on the edge of a cliff. It was a fairly grand structure laying just outside of the castle grounds, lit up as well by the green torches, which gave it an almost ominous look as they approached. Though if that wasn't a tip off point enough, there was also the signs that read things like: "Beware!" and "Go away!" and the not at all threatening message of, "Strangers will be killed!" which was causing Marco's stomach to flip uncontrollably. The building as well, though big, had seen better days, the wood scarred and covered in holes as if someone had been punching holes into the building's frame. On top of that, the whole place looked unsturdy and if it was ready to collapse at any moment and the fact that it rested on what seemed to be an unstable cliff was not exactly inviting much either. Needless to say Marco was not feeling too good about entering into the deathtrap of a building.

"So, uh, what is this place, exactly?" Marco asked in concern.

"This is where we knights go to train and hang out, when we want to get away from it all," Higgs explained. "We call it 'Valhalla'."

"Huh?" Marco said, looking back up at the structure again. "But don't you have other places to train on Mewni?"

Higgs scoffed at the statement, saying matter-of-factly, "Yeah, but this place is where the real training happens. This dimension is abandoned and the only ones who know how to get to it are those trusted enough to be told. This place is basically the elite circle for the best of the best Mewni's knights have to offer."

Marco looked to one of the signs which had a very lazily drawn picture of a skull on it, asking, "Umm, are you sure it's okay for me to be here then?"

"Don't worry about it," Higgs said, shrugging the hooded boy's concern off. "Your getting a special pass, since you're with me."

"Greeeaaat," Marco said, trying to sound enthusiastic, but unsuccessful in hiding the squeak in his voice, as he stared up at the ominous building in fear, this seeming to confirm to him that trying to bond with Higgs had been a terrible idea.

…

Marco flinched, as Higgs violently kicked open the doors to the old building, causing one of them to break and fall over, Higgs muttering, "We should probably fix that."

But the hooded boy wasn't paying attention to that, as he gingerly walked into the hallowed hall (still partially afraid the ground beneath him would cave at any second), his startled senses shocked as he was overwhelmed with a strong scent of body odor and sweat. He looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. The inside was just as torn up as the outside, possibly more so, every inch of the room covered in either scrapes or holes. There was little décor in the room, most of the place empty and barren, with a little bar for the knights to get a drink and some equipment which Marco assumed was for training. The most impressive part of the room was the far wall, which was coated top to bottom with weapon, some of which he had no idea what they were or what they did. All in all, the place did seem like a haven for knights and Marco was a bit in awe of it all.

"Wooowww," Marco breathed, a small smile on his face. There were a few men and women in the building, as well, all of them decked out in knights gear like Higgs and they turned to see the hooded boy, all of them with looks ranging from confusion to outright hostility.

"Who's your friend, Higgs?" one of them asked, after a moment of intense staring.

"This is my new charge, I've been assigned as his bodyguard by the princess," Higgs explained instantly with a cocky and boastful smile, putting extra emphasis on the word 'princess'. This did seem to get their attention, as they all looked at the boy, sizing him up, causing Marco's confidence to crumble, feeling the need to hide behind Higgs to escape from their penetrative stares, but was unable to due to his feet being frozen in place. And he had thought being around Higgs was intimidating, that had nothing on these guys.

"General Skullnick would be furious if she found out you brought a stranger here," one of them pointed out with a warning tone.

"Yeah, well she isn't here and she's not gonna know, she's too busy trying to find that assassin to worry about coming here, so we're good," Higgs said, quickly waving off his concern. Marco looked at her with concern for a moment, he thought she had said it was okay for him to be here, but clearly she had been lying.

"Well, why'd you even bring him here, in the first place?" another asked, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow.

"He wanted to try training with me," she explained, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder, not even noticing that he had gone completely stiff. "So I figured I'd show him the ropes."

"Ha, this pipsqueak," one of the lady knights chuckled. "Be careful, Higgs, he might break in half if your not careful."

The others all laughed at that as well, which would normally cause Marco's face to flush a deep red, but he was too distracted by something that had caught his eye. Above their heads, hanging upside down from one of the rafters was a familiar purple bat. It was just watching him with knowing brown eyes and as it seemed to notice it had been spotted by him, shot him a cryptic smirk that could not be mistaken for anyone but Janna. She stood out like a sore thumb and he was honestly surprised no one had spotted her yet, though he did at least give her credit for taking off her beanie so she wasn't so conspicuous.

Marco would lie and say he was surprised to see her there, but in all honesty, he wasn't. If anyone could have successfully snuck into the Mewnian knight's most secret and well hidden bases it was Janna. Though, whatever she was doing there, however, was the bigger question and concern Marco had.

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" One of the other knights asked, pulling Marco out of his thoughts, as the large muscular man gave him a long, quizzical stare.

"Um, w-well I don't-" Marco managed to stammer out, his voice growing softer with every word, not enjoying this intense interrogation from one of the knights.

"Come on, kid, spit it out!" the man said in a gruff voice that caused Marco to jump and freeze up even more.

"I-I-I-"

"Hey! Back off, you're freaking him out," Higgs thankfully interjected, pushing the knight away from her charge, Marco finally releasing his held breath.

"I was just asking him a question," the man grumbled in annoyance.

"Yeah well, you probably scarred him for life, having to look at that ugly mug of yours," one of the other knights said jokingly and the others all laughed heartily at that.

The humiliated knight growled in anger, "Shut up!" while punching his fellow knight in the face. The knight crashed into another, which caused both of them to angrily retaliate, hitting him as one. One thing led to another and soon every single knight except for Higgs had joined in on the scuffle all of them engaged in an angry fist fight, while Marco just watched in shock and disturbance, using Higgs as a shield for himself. "What is happening?" Marco asked, not sure what to think of the sudden situation.

"Oh this happens all the time," Higgs replied, nonchalantly, not even fazed as the group of grown Mewmans needlessly fought amongst themselves.

"Well, what should we do?" Marco asked his bodyguard, unsure.

"You hang back, I'll take care of it," she said confidently, giving Marco a push toward the door, before she strolled over to the brawling group. "Hey idiots, knock it off!" she yelled, before punching one of them herself. The Mewman growled before lunging toward her, Higgs dodging out of the way, kicking the knight square in the stomach, sending him flying back and into one of the others. But before she could recover she was tackled by one of the other knights, knocking her to the ground, as she screamed in a strained tone, "Hey get off of me!"

Marco just watched on as the freckled redhead managed to squirm her way out of their grasp and then proceeded to take on three burly knights twice her own size, quickly joining in on the scuffle. But Marco's attention was diverted as he heard a fluttering noise beside him, looking over to see Bat-Jan flying next to him, right at eye level. "So enjoying the show?" she asked sarcastically.

Marco checked to see if the others had noticed, but they were still too preoccupied with their fighting to notice anything else. "Janna, what are you doing here?" Marco asked in a whisper, just in case the knights somehow heard him over the loud ruckus they were making.

Bat-Jan seemed to shrug, before explaining, "Well, we were still getting bad vibes about that Higgs girl so we decided it would be best if kept an eye on the two of you."

"So you're just here spying on my bodyguard," Marco said, with a suspicious undertone in his voice, as one of his eyebrows slowly raising.

"Yep," Janna replied, not seeming to pick on the extra meaning of what he was asking.

"And nothing else," Marco continued, with the same knowing hint in his tone. "You're not going to play any pranks on her or anything?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Bat-Jan started mischievously, Marco able to see her inner troublemaker surfacing in her eyes.

"Jan, you promised," Marco reminded her with a hiss.

"I'm just kidding, Marco," Janna immediately said, shrugging off her previous behavior, giving him an overly sweet smile. "Jeez, you really need to learn to take a joke."

Marco gave her a disbelieving stare, before sighing in exasperation. "Fine, look you can stay, but please, please, don't do anything. I really need her to like me and I think she's starting to come around a bit."

"You got it," Janna agreed, flashing him a toothy grin. "You won't even know I'm here." With that she flew back up toward the cracked ceiling, leaving Marco alone again.

This was when Marco noticed that the room was now silent and looked over to see that the knights had worn themselves out, with no clear victor in sight, all of them just laying on the floor, groaning in pain. Marco was about to check on them when they all started laughing and joking with each other as if the previous fight had never happened, rising off the floor and playfully punching each other in the gut.

Higgs, as well, stood and brushed herself off, one of the knights saying to her, "Good fight, Higgs! You really know how to pack a punch."

"Yeah I do," she replied smugly, before going over to join her hooded charge. "Okay, now we can train," she said to him super nonchalantly.

"But, what just happened?" Marco asked, still in shock from the bizarre and sporadic changes in attitude from the elite knights.

"That?" she asked, pointing behind her. "That was nothing. Like I said, happens all the time."

"But one minute you guys were fighting and then you were fine," Marco continued as his head spun trying to understand it all. "I don't-"

"Look, Marco," Higgs interrupted. "That just happens around here. Better get used to it."

Marco opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by another voice. "Wait, Marco," the same burly knight from before said as realization struck him, the boy's name finally striking the right cord in his brain. "I know who you are now. Your the princess's boyfriend, aren't ya?"

"Um, yes," Marco said hesitantly. With that the other knights began all talking at once, making it impossible to tell what they were saying.

"So your Marco, huh? Never really got a chance to meet you before, off fighting in the war and all," a lady knight said, draping an arm around the boy's small frame.

"Uh, haha, yeah," Marco responded awkwardly, not sure what else to say.

"Then your the kid that was raised by Monsters, right?" she asked, her tone becoming far less friendly and more hard.

"Yeah, that's right," Marco responded immediately, not picking up on the slight hostility in her tone. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bat-Jan face-palm with one of her clawed wings, shaking her furry head in disbelief.

The room grew eerily quiet as they all just glared at the boy, Marco gulping against his will. "W-What?"

"Well isn't that just great, the kid who was raised by the very Monsters we spent the last decade or so fighting, just comes waltzing in here," one of the other knights said, with a deep hatred in his voice.

"But the Monsters aren't bad?" Marco defended weakly. "They were just following Toffee's orders."

"Yeah, well those orders got a lot of us killed," the lady knight said, with an intense glare. "And did they show any remorse for us, no."

The other knights all grumbled their agreements, Marco quickly becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"I lost a leg to one of the Monsters!" one of them yelled, gesturing to the wooden leg he had.

"I lost an eye!" one of them shouted, pointing at his eyepatch.

"Oh yeah, well I lost a whole hand!" he said, taking off his glove to show off his wooden hand replacement.

"No you didn't?" the lady knight reminded him. "You lost that during a training accident."

"Oh right," the one handed knight said. "Well... I still hate those stupid Monsters."

The others all shouted their agreement, while Marco just stood there awkwardly not sure what to say.

"If you weren't the princess's boyfriend," the lady knight said, stabbing a finger into Marco's chest, giving him a hated glare. "Then I would kick your butt for siding with those freaks."

"I-I-I-" Marco started not sure what to say.

Luckily, Higgs quickly saved him from trying to find an answer, as she pulled him away from them, saying with a hiss in her tone, "Yeah well, he is the princess's boyfriend and my charge. So like it or not, you guys are just gonna have to get over it or answer to me."

The others all quickly, dropped the subject after that, moving away from the two teens and going back about their business, though they did keep flashing dirty looks at the hooded boy every so often. "Thanks," Marco said, breathing a sigh of relief. He honestly couldn't believe how quickly the knights had all turned on him just by being associated with the Monsters.

Higgs didn't respond, releasing her hold on the boy as she just quickly said, "Let's just start with the training already?"

Marco paused for a moment, before finally saying, "Okay, sounds good." He nodded, trying to let the intense moment slide, instead focusing his attention on the far wall, looking over the large array of weapons before him, trying to select the best and least deadly one. There were so many to choose from, he didn't even know where to begin and they all looked extremely unsafe too, swords, daggers, spears, shields, scythes, even some kind of gun looking thing with a hook on the end of it which Marco had no idea what that could be used for. None of them really looked super appealing to the boy.

"Um, what are you doing?" Marco turned away from the deadly selection to see Higgs giving him a skeptical stare.

"I was just... picking out a weapon," he explained hesitantly. "Isn't that what you are supposed to do?"

"Maybe for experienced knights, but not you. You are not ready for any of those things," Higgs explained and Marco breathed a mental sigh of relief, glad he didn't have to handle any dangerous weapons again, his mind for just a second flashing back to his fight with Toffee.

"So then what are we gonna use?" Marco asked.

"Here," Higgs said, handing Marco a small wooden sword. "We will be using these for now. Wouldn't want to explain to the princess how I got her boyfriend's head accidentally cut off, now would I?"

Marco gulped, taking the sword. "No," he said in a fearful whisper.

Higgs had a wooden sword herself, holding it out in front of her in a confident stance, which Marco did his best to mimic. "Ready?" she asked, as her face drained of any emotion as she just stared forward with a serious stare.

"R-Ready, I guess," Marco replied, trying to keep his hands from shaking, her burning stare far too intense for him to handle. "This is my first time, though, so maybe take it easy on me a little bit?" he asked, but she gave him no indication of agreeing to that.

Instead she charged him, Marco trying to block the sword swing, but it was easily knocked out of his inexperienced hands. Her wooden sword then made contact with his stomach, propelled him back, where Marco landing hard on his butt. "Ow," he groaned, as pain shot through his stomach.

"In a real battle, your opponent isn't going to take things easy on you," Higgs explained, as she expertly twirled her sword around her hand, before lightly tapping him on the head with it. "And in this case, you'd be dead," she said with a smirk.

Marco didn't say anything as he rubbed at the small bump on his head. But as he looked up, he saw Janna, still in bat form, giving the redhead an intense glare and Marco became afraid she would retaliate, giving her a pleading look, which Higgs noticed.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, turning in the direction of his stare, Bat-Jan quickly flying behind one of the beams and out of sight.

"Uh, nothing, my mistake," Marco quickly said, jumping back to his feet. "Let's just go again." He held his sword out in the same stance. "I'm ready this time."

"Acting confident, huh?" Higgs said with a superior smirk. "Then let's see how ready you are?" she added, the smirk never once leaving her face.

For the next several minutes, Marco was on the defensive as Higgs mercilessly wailed on him with the surprisingly hard stick, every short fight resulting in Marco losing his balance and falling hard to the floor, where Higgs would tap his head with the sword, claiming him dead. Marco put everything he had into holding his own, trying his very best to counter her. Sometimes it would pay off, as his hands would happen to land in the right place and block her swing, which Marco would then exclaim in victory, but before he would even try and counter, it was always followed up with another move from Higgs, which often ended the fight right there. Even with his Trait, Higgs was just too skilled for him. He had no chance of beating her.

After a while though, Marco began to notice that Higgs seemed to be getting frustrated with him for some reason. Her hits grew more and more intense, not giving him any chances to attack or even counter her, and her calm smirk changed to one of barely suppressed anger. Marco had no idea what he had done to offender her, but it seemed he clearly had, as she knocked him down for the hundredth time that day. As he looked up at her, he could see the venom in her eyes. Still, he forced himself to stand, his body groaning in protest. "Ugh, why do you keep getting up?" she growled. "Just stay down already."

"Wait, what's wrong? Why are you getting so mad? I-I thought we were having fun," Marco asked in innocent confusion.

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say though as Higgs glared at him, hard. "Fun!" she hissed. "This isn't fun for me, this is my whole life!" She threw another wild swing at him, which Marco somehow managed to block.

"Whoa, wait! I never said it wasn't! I was just doing this so we could spend some time together, I wasn't trying to offend you or anything," he said, sheepishly.

"Well you did!" Higgs shouted, as she pushed back on the sword, causing Marco to stumble.

Once he managed to recover, he asked with a lost look, "But, w-what did I do to make you so mad at me?"

"Oh gee, let me think," Higgs said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "How about acting like a total moron and still managing to get the attention of the princess." She grunted as she slammed her sword down with all her might, Marco getting pushed back once again as he blocked. "Constantly messing up and getting yourself in trouble only to have your precious girlfriend save you and then give you whatever you want!" She hit his sword again, this time completely knocking it out of his hands, his back colliding with the wall behind him. "And then even managing to get credit for helping Princess Star beat Toffee... which seriously, how? Look at you, you can't even keep a good hold of your sword." She glared at him, pointing at him with her own sword, as he rubbed at his aching wrist with a sad look on his face. "Anyone of us here would have killed to get an opportunity to stop Toffee and end the war. But no, instead it was _you_ who got that chance."

Marco opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the angered redhead, as she continued her rant, now right in his face, her green eyes filled with fire and venom. "Meanwhile, I have had to work and fight and sweat to get to where I am now. And you have done nothing, so tell me, Marco, why you? What have you done to deserve any of the great things you've gotten?"

Higgs glared daggers at him as she waited for him to answer and as Marco took a quick look around the room he saw that the other knights were all staring at him, as well, the hate in their eyes telling him that they felt the exact same way. Marco paused for a long time, trying to hold back the tears he felt welling up. "I-I don't know," he finally replied, his gaze dropping sadly to the floor.

Higgs scoffed. "Whatever," she grumbled finally backing away and giving the boy his space. "Don't give me that act. I'm not buying it." She turned away from the boy, crossing her arms, the other knights refusing to even look in his direction and Marco felt his heart ache, feeling lost and alone. He couldn't think of one reason for all the good things that had happened to him, either. He felt something warm and soft rub up against him and was surprised to fine Bat-Jan wrapped around his arm in a make-shift hug.

Suddenly, there was a loud yell from the entrance to the room as a familiar gruff voice yelled, "Which one of you idiots broke this door?!" Every head turned to see General Skullnick looking as angry as ever in the doorway. Marco was caught off guard as Bat-Jan quickly launched herself off his arm, hiding in the depths of his hood for safety.

No knight spoke a word, as she glared at each and every one of them, until her eyes landed on the small hooded boy hiding in the corner, looking shocked to see him for about half a second, Marco knowing he was caught. Then, her gaze slowly narrowed on his form and he felt his stomach drop. "Marco?!" she screamed, causing the boy to jump.

"Y-Yes, General Skullnick," Marco managed to stutter out, giving her a small, halfhearted grin.

She finally pulled her focus away from him and back to her knights, who were all looking quite unnerved. "What is the princess's boyfriend doing here?!" she rumbled in pure anger.

She looked at all the sheepish faces around her, adding with a growl, "He shouldn't be here. Which one of you idiots let him in?!

Marco, as well, was examining the faces of all the clearly disturbed knights, but noticed Higgs looking extra freaked out, her face the picture of guilt and worry, her hand twitching at her side, as she just stared at her feet. He knew how important her position was, how big a deal being a knight was for her and Marco didn't wish to see her get in trouble and possibly losing her standing as the youngest knight in Mewman history.

So he sucked in a deep breath, saying in the strongest voice he could muster, "Nobody let me in, General Skullnick." Every knight turned to him with surprise as he walked toward the angered troll, Higgs especially in shock by what was happening, none able to believe the cowering child was facing their terrifying leader alone. "I found a portal open and without really thinking about it just walked through it," he lied. "I knew I shouldn't have but I got curious and eventually found this place here. The others were just asking me to leave actually when you showed up. Sorry for causing any trouble."

Skullnick stared at the boy for a long intense minute, before looking at the rest of them. "Is this true?"

They all nodded and Skullnick actually looked convinced. She looked down at Marco with a scolding, but far less angry stare. "Well in that case, I'm letting you off easy this time, Marco," she said, sounding more like a parent than an angry general. "But don't let me catch you in here again, understood?"

Marco nodded and she quickly whipped back around to the other knights as she shouted. "Now would one of you please escort Marco back to Mewni."

"I will, general," Higgs volunteered, doing a salute.

"Good, then as for the rest of you..." Her voice returned to a raised yell once again, as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "GET BACK OUT THERE AND LOOK FOR THAT STUPID ASSASSIN!"

Every knight scrambled out of the building, Higgs just leading Marco out with a hand on his shoulder. Once they were outside again and out of earshot of the general, Higgs asked him, "Why did you do that?" Several other knights all turned to him, wanting to hear his answer.

"Because I knew how important it is to you being a knight and I didn't want to jeopardize that," Marco replied. "I didn't want to see you get in trouble. General Skullnick might have taken away your knighthood if you had gotten caught," Marco said honestly. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes filling with pain, as they slowly lowered to the ground in shame, before he added softly, "Besides what you said was true. I don't deserve all the great things that have happened to me, I was just lucky enough to have people like Star who cared about me and helped me to get to where I am. But I don't feel like I've done anything to earn them being so nice to me..."

Finally, he looked up, his gaze locking with Higgs and the young knight couldn't help but get the sense that they were on equal levels for the first time since they met. "That's why I'm trying so hard to help the Monsters make peace, to create a world where both sides, Monster and Mewmans, can be treated fairly and not have to fight each other ever again, it's my way of repaying everyone for their kindness."

Once the boy was finished with his speech, Higgs just stared at him for a long time with a blank, empty stare, but Marco's gaze never faltered as he kept his eyes level with Higgs. Then, to Marco's surprise, the young knight smiled back, giving him the first genuine smile Marco had seen on her. "You know what you're all right, Marco," she said, giving him a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Terrible with a sword," she added, with a small roll of her eyes. "But still pretty alright."

"Thank you," Marco answered, slightly unsure by the small insult she had thrown in there. Still it was nice to finally be acknowledged by the young knight in any positive light, feeling a bit of pride fill his chest at the positive reinforcement.

"Hey kid." Marco turned in shock, to see the same lady knight from before giving him an intense stare, the others mimicking the look and the boy grew nervous once again.

"Y-Yes," Marco stuttered, his voice a tight squeak.

"What you did back there," the lady knight continued, stepping closer to the boy, Marco became fearful of what she was about to do to him. But as she looked down at him, her gaze softened into a smile. "That took guts kid," she said, sounding quite impressed with the boy and Marco's mouth nearly dropped open in shock. "You stood up for one of our own back there and I respect that."

"O-Oh w-well I... i-it was really nothing," Marco muttered, as his cheeks began pooling with blood. He was caught off guard as she suddenly patted his shoulder, not realizing that she nearly knocked the boy down with how hard she hit it as she laughed heartily at his blushing.

"You may not be so bad after all, kid," the lady knight continued. "In fact, from now on you have my trust." She smiled as she pointed behind her. "And that goes for the rest of these idiots, too."

"Oh, wow, th-thank you," Marco said in awe, unable to believe he had just gained the favor of the same elite knights who had been ready to tear him apart not an hour ago.

The lady knight finally released her hold of the boy's shoulder, saying, "Well we better be off, before old Skullsy sees us." She turned to Higgs pounding a hand to her chest in salute. "Till next time, Higgs!" the knight boomed.

"Likewise!" Higgs said in the same loud tone, as she saluted back. With that, the other knights all pulled out their scissors, each cutting open their own portal, all giving a salute before stepping through. Higgs and Marco did the same, the hooded boy waved to the last of the knights as he stepped through, leaving behind an empty world, save for the one troll general.

…

Marco and Higgs stepped through the portal, now back in the same courtyard they had left from, Marco blinking as he returned to a world of bright colors again, rubbing at his shell-shocked eyes for a moment, as they struggled to adjust. "You don't really dimension hop all that much, do you?" Higgs asked, smirking at the boy.

"No, not really," the boy laughed, still rubbing at his eyes, as they finally began to readjust to the brightness. Once they had, he and Higgs headed back inside the castle, the girl holding the door open for her young charge, Marco thanking her, glad to be back home once again.

Higgs said nothing, just walking beside him silently, as she seemed to be contemplating on saying something, not looking toward the boy as she tried to hide the slight embarrassment on her face. Finally, she looked back over to him, saying in the most sincere tone she could manage,"Hey, I just wanted to say thanks by the way. For, y'know, helping me keep my job or whatever."

Marco looked at her in shock for a second, before smiling saying, "No problem."

"And maybe I was a little... harsh before," she added, in a soft tone, one Marco almost didn't catch.

"I-It's fine," Marco answered, not sure how else to put it.

Higgs cleared her throat, again, trying to hide her embarrassment from the boy, not used to being nice to other people. "So, for that, I'm gonna cut you a deal," Higgs said, her tone becoming more serious once more.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Marco asked in confusion.

Higgs just crossed her arms and responded, "Look, I know you don't really want me or anybody as a bodyguard..." Marco looked away from her, rubbing guiltily at his arm. "And truth is I would much rather have a different assignment than being stuck babysitting you all day. No offense."

Marco did take slight offense to the comment, but he decided not to say anything, letting her continue. "The only problem is, you can't really take care of yourself, like at all," Higgs explained, rather matter-of-factly.

Marco cringed, looking sheepish, a slight blush forming on his cheeks.

"I mean, you did manage to get yourself kidnapped by Toffee, twice, and from what the princess told me she just barely got in there in time to save you before that stupid lizard killed you." Marco absentmindedly put a hand to his neck, a ghost of an ache forming in his tight throat, his gaze far away and his eyes wide with fear. "Of course you did manage to take off his hand and make him capable of being killed, props by the way, but you were literally unconscious for the rest of the fight."

Marco looked at the ground in shame, realizing how pathetic he was, always needing rescuing from someone it seemed. But Higgs ignored the sad look, unable to stop herself as the rant continued,"And then, just a few days ago you nearly got taken again by a different Monster." Higgs did finally take notice of the boy's distraught behavior, coughing into her hand, before mercifully saying n a much nicer tone,"So I guess what I'm trying to say is, you tend to attract some pretty bad people as enemies and right now you're just too weak to handle them on your own."

Marco looked deflated, his whole body slumped over in sadness, his hands buried deep in his pockets, even his cheek marks had lost their shine, turning into gray storm clouds, as he asked in a depressed tone, "So, you think I still need protection?"

"Yes, but I think I have a better solution. Instead of the constant twenty-four surveillance, how about I give you some lessons in self-defense, just the basics, so you won't be totally helpless next time you get yourself in trouble."

Marco looked at her in surprise, not sure if he had heard her right. "You... would really do that for me?" Marco asked, sounding chocked up, which instantly set off Higgs.

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Higgs said waving her arms. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this so I don't have to be stuck dealing with you for forever."

Marco smiled, knowing if she really felt that way she could have just waited a week or so when Marco told Star he no longer needed a bodyguard anymore. Instead, she had willingly agreed to spend continuous time with him in the foreseeable future and without even demanding he brag about her to Star in exchange. "Okay, I accept," Marco eagerly agreed. But he held up a finger before adding, "But on one condition."

"What's that?" Higgs asked, raising an eyebrow at him and crossing her arms.

"You have to promise to take it easy on me, okay? I still have a ton of bruises from today," Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Higgs rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess I can be a little easier from now on. I forget how weak you are. But, be warned, I'm not gonna hold your hand or baby you the whole time."

Marco nodded, "Okay." Then he surprised her by pulling her into a hug, the girl's freckled face blushing, as she becoming trapped in the young boy's warmth, not sure what to think about the sudden burst of affection from the little idiot. Though, in truth, she had grown a bit fond of the adorkable innocent, finally starting to understand what everybody found so charming about him. He did have a way of forcing his way into your heart. "Thanks, Higgs," he whispered into her ear.

A small smile began to form on her face, but quickly realizing this, she stopped herself in the act, pushing the boy off of her, clearing her throat and hiding her blush from his view. "Okay first rule of this new agreement: No hugs," she snapped, pretending to be annoyed by the hug, she did still have a reputation to think of afterall.

Marco nodded, before apologizing, "Right sorry."

"Well looks like you two are getting along," a voice said out of nowhere, the two turning to see they were being watched by the smiling faces of Star, Jackie, and wait...

"Janna!" Marco exclaimed, earning him a quizzical stare from Higgs, who had no idea what had suddenly gotten into the boy.

"Uh, yeaaahh," Janna said, in mock confusion, the look in her eyes trying to subtly remind him of their secret. But Marco didn't notice this, as he quickly began feeling the back of his hood, shocked he hadn't even realized that his half-Monster friend had somehow exited it without him knowing. "When did you- How did you- I thought you were-" Marco stuttered, the boy sometimes forgetting how scary good his best friend could be... and sometimes how just plain scary she could be, too.

"Oh Marco," Janna said, playing off his odd behavior as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Did you fall and hit your head again?" She jokingly put a hand to his forehead as if checking for a bump, which did seem to at least semi-convince Higgs, as she looked a bit less skeptical than before.

Star, meanwhile, ignored her boyfriend's weird confusion as she walked over and kissed him on the cheek, which silenced all doubt or confusion in the boy, as his whole face turned bright red. "So, Marco, did you and Higgs have fun?" she asked, looking lovingly in his eyes.

Marco just stared at Star for second, lost in her dazzling gaze, before he realized the question she asked, quickly blurting, "Huh? Uh yeah, yeah it was a lot of fun!" Marco giggled shyly and Star nearly cooed over how adorable and precious her boyfriend was.

"Good," she said instead. But as her gaze shifted to Janna, the look they shared instantly told Marco that Janna and Jackie had told her what had happened. All of what had happened, most likely. And it was at that moment that he remembered back at Valhalla that Janna had specifically said, 'we' when explaining why she was there keeping an eye on Marco and his new bodyguard and Marco couldn't help but wonder who's idea it had actually been to send Janna to spy on them. And from the look the royal was giving him he had a feeling that whoever it was blond and was named after bodies of celestial lights in the sky. The boy shot both Jackie and Janna a glare, silently scolding, _You promised_. To which they merely shrugged in unison, the look on their faces telling him all he needed to know: _Sorry, she pried it out of us_.

Which she totally had, as it seemed Star hadn't been nearly as absentminded during the meal as they had thought, picking up on the subtle little glares and awkward atmosphere that had consumed the table, and of course, knowing her bestie as well as she did, had instantly realized that something was off with the cheerful boy. "So everything... okay?" she asked slowly, careful with her wording to prevent Higgs from picking up on the deeper meaning, but making sure Marco did. Luckily, the hooded boy could see the message hidden behind the royal's sky blue irises, _Did you and Higgs work things out?_ and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yep, all good," he said with a cute nod, while trying to convey through his own eyes, _Yeah, we did, actually. We're friends now... I think._

Star smiled back and pulled him into a tight hug. "Good," she muttered into his ear, as she buried her head in his shoulder, Jackie soon joining in on the hug, too, as she squeezed her two crushing friends tight.

Meanwhile, all Higgs could think was, _Wow, these guys hug way too much_ , as she fought back the eyeroll she felt tugging at the edges of her eyelids. But all of a sudden, she got the sense that the five of them were not the only ones there, her training allowing her to sense the new presences slowly coming up behind them in the cramped hallway. "Hey Marco!" Lobster Claws called out to the young boy, giving the teens a friendly wave, Beard Deer and Bearicorn standing right beside him with equally relaxed smiles. This, of course, drew everyone's attention as Star, Marco, and Jackie pulled out of their hug to smile at Marco's extended family.

Unfortunately, as Higgs turned to see the three strange creatures sharing the same hallway as her, her instincts took over as she screamed, "Intruders!"

All three Monsters jumped at her sudden shout, Lobster Claws even looking around him asking in sudden fear, "What where?!" But rather than answer him, the young knight gritted her teeth and lashed out, kicking him right in the face, causing him to fall back and crash into his other two friends.

The Monsters were all powerless to stop the young knight, as she continued to attack them, her moves quick and precise and impossible to dodge in the limited space of the hallway, Star, Marco, Jackie, and Janna just watching in horror as the three strong Monsters were easily taken down by the young girl.

Higgs grabbed Lobster Claw's arm, jerking him toward her, before expertly kicking his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground, following it up with a finishing punch to his gut on his way down. Beard Deer and Bearicorn didn't even have time to react as she attacked the both of them at once, closing the distance, before slamming an opened palm into the dear Monsters face, his back colliding with the wall, while at the same time the fiery redhead jabbed her elbow into Bearicorn's side, causing him to stumble back.

As Beard Deer bounced off the wall, Higgs used his momentum to easily flip him over her shoulder where he landed on the groaning Lobster Claws, leaving only the recovering bear Monster on his feet. The redhead wasted no time in her assault, as she pressed one foot against the far wall and used it to launch herself into the air and to push herself forward at an incredible speed, as she flipped in mid-air, landing on the Monster and simultaneously slamming him into the ground.

In just the span of mere seconds, all three Monsters were completely down for the count, as they lay in a bruised and groaning heap on the floor. "Higgs, stop!" Marco cut in with a worried shout, as he finally recovered from his initial shock, rushing over to grab the girl's raised fist before she could start punching the furry intruder, who was covering his face with his paws and yelling, "Not the face! Not the face!" Her look of anger switched to one of confusion as she turned to the hooded boy, asking, "What, why?"

"Because they aren't intruders, they're my family!" Marco explained via yell.

There was a beat as Higgs seemed to be soaking in the new information, before finally saying in a calm tone, "Oh." Marco released her arm, giving her a quizzical look as the girl acted as if nothing had just happened, rising up off of the frightened Bearicorn, who sighed in relief, collapsing against the ground. "My bad, force of habit," she said to the boy with a shrug. She then merely began nonchalantly dusting the dirt off her uniform, while Marco simply sighed and went over to help Bearicorn to his feet, Star and Jackie doing the same with Beard Deer and Lobster Claws.

"Uh, sorry about Higgs, guys, she didn't know any better, she thought you were intruders," he apologized for the girl, knowing she wouldn't on her own.

"Hey that's okay, Marco," Bearicorn said in the lightest tone he could, considering the amount of pain he was in, as he used the boy for support to stand. "No harm, no- ow!" He quickly grabbed his side, as a sharp pain shot through it, nearly falling back down, Marco quickly trying to grab onto him to hold him steady.

Janna, on the other hand, just smiled down at the sight of Beard Deer laying on top of Lobster Claws, tapping a finger thoughtfully to her chin, as she smugly stated, "Huh, Beard Deer getting beat up by a girl. This is giving me a strong feeling of deju vu for some reason."

"Oh, shut up, brat!" Beard Deer snapped, giving the beanie-wearing girl above him a look of anger, as he rose up off of his underling with the help of Jackie and Star, though it didn't seem nearly as venom filled as some of his other comebacks.

Marco couldn't help but cringe though, wondering if the two were about to go at it again, knowing from experience that that could last a while. Since the war had ended and peace was formed between the two races, Beard Deer and Janna had formed a bit of a... complicated relationship. While they were no longer enemies and wouldn't indulge in any kind of physical violence with one another, considering the fact that both knew Marco cared for the other greatly, they instead would constantly tease and harass each other any time they were in contact. Insult after insult would be flung back and forth between each other whenever they got the chance. Sometimes, it could even last for hours, until either one of them was the winner (which was never the case) or until they were interrupted by something, otherwise Marco felt like the Monster and Impure could just continue slandering one another for eternity.

Marco figured that it was Beard Deer's way for getting back at Janna, knowing his pride had been hurt after losing to her twice, and Janna was... well, she was Janna. But if Marco didn't know any better he would swear they both enjoyed it, well Janna obviously did, but sometimes he could swear through Beard Deer's gritted teeth he saw the hint of a grin on his face, as if constantly putting each other down was just their friendly way of interacting with one another. Marco honestly didn't understand it one bit. He had even asked Star about it one time and she had just shrugged and said that sometimes that was just how friends talked, which Marco then pointed out that he liked how they talked much better, which had caused Star to smile and give him a tight hug and quick kiss on the cheek, agreeing with his statement.

Luckily, the two didn't continue their insult game, as the Mewmans just continued to help the Monsters to their feet. Once they were all standing again, Star asked, "So what are you guys doing here, anyways?"

"Ow, Buff Frog sent us," Lobster Claws said, before groaning using his claw to rub the top of his aching head.

This instantly gained Marco's attention as he turned to them with a hopeful look. "Wait, Buff Frog?" Marco asked, as he stepped closer to the crustacean.

"Yeah, he was still pretty busy with everything, so he asked us to come get you," Beard Deer explained.

Marco felt his heart begin to pound, though he didn't know if it was in fear or joy, a bright smile instantly lighting up his face as he asked them eagerly, "Did he say why?"

Beard Deer smiled down at the young boy, putting a hand on his shoulder, as he said the words Marco had been waiting to hear all his life, "He said it's time he told you about your parents."

 **So, as you all probably guessed, next up will be the chapter "Rafael and Angela Diaz" where I will finally reveal the origins of Marco's parents! So definitely something to look forward too! As for this chapter, like I said earlier I had a lot of fun with this one and found myself really getting engrossed in Higgs's character, even though I did make her a bit mean to Marco there in the beginning. I tried to keep her as close to her cannon counterpart, since she served as basically the same role here as she did in the show, but I thought it would be fun to make her a very young knight, rather than just a squire. I actually honestly made her Jak's daughter, y'know one of my OC guards, but cut the scene out because it went nowhere. But I will still pretend it's cannon to the fic. So all in all, I actually did enjoy making Higgs, with some nice redeeming there at the end, sorta, though she honestly will probably not be in the story all that often. I just thought this would be a great time to show her, since Star was worrying about Marco and all and having her assign him a bodyguard just made sense to me.**

 **Also, a few quick things, I still don't plan on making Marco a big fighter in the story, there is a difference between self-defense and actual combat ability. I just thought it would be good and make sense for Higgs to teach him at least some, so he won't be completely at the mercy of his enemies next time.**

 **I would also like to ask if any of you could think of maybe a better cheek mark for Higgs in this chapter or if it's good how it is? I don't know, I wasn't 100% percent sure with the one I went with, so please let me know in the reviews and if I like one I might update this one with a new cheek mark for her. Otherwise, I won't and will just update whenever I get the next one done.**

 **So anyways, love you all and I will see you all next time, bye guys!**

 **Gamelover41592- Thank you! Haha, that's fine, I'm kinda glad my reveal wasn't as predictable as I thought it was, I should probably try and give myself more credit before I jump to conclusion. Anyways, hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **ravangel- Awww, thank you so much! Sorry for the super long wait, writer's block is the** _ **worst**_ **! And being busy all the time doesn't help much either. Still, glad you enjoyed! Ahhh, oh no, I knew I hugged you too hard, I've injured one of my fans what do I do? Oh oh, I know Star can you cast a healing spell.**

 **Star: Sure thing, Healing Starco Heartbreak! *rainbows, unicorns, and narwhals wearing nurses hats burst from the wand***

 **Wow Star, I don't know if that spell helped, it looked like you just shot a bunch of random things at one of my fans, did you just make things worse!**

 **Star: What no! I use that spell all the time on those who are suffering from the lack of Starco in the cannon. Also, sometimes on myself, because of the lack of Starco in the cannon.**

 **But I wanted you to heal his broken ribs.**

 **Star: Oooooh, yeah, he's probably worse now.**

 **Sorry about that, anyways, glad you love my story so much! Oh boy, forgot about Heckapoo and here attraction to Marco, I honestly didn't plan on doing a Star jealous due to girl flirting with Marco, but I don't know, maybe, we'll see. And now that Marco knows, I will very soon be revealing the secret of origins of him and his parents. Soon, very soon. But for now I hope you enjoy this new chapter and I will see you next time friend!**

 **Must resist urge to hug friend goodbye! Aww, heck who cares? *Hugs! (but much gentler than before XD)***

 **Sugar- Thanks, glad you liked it! Haha, yeah, I guess a chapter of just romance and cheesy goodness between Star and Marco would have been good, but I wanted to make it a bit more exciting for being the first chapter of the new season and all. Also, I was actually going for that exactly! I had a bit more of a cartoon-y feel I guess in mind when I was writing it, because a cartoon can break up an intense seen by adding a bit of humor or romance into the mix. Thank you for noticing!**

 **Oh boy, the scene where their souls bonded was one of the best things I think I have ever written! I actually had to do it twice, though, when my computer crashed and so I had to try and remember what I had written, though I think it's even better now, than before! I've read a lot of fanfiction that have done the soul bonding and I like all of them, but I wanted mine to feel unique and honestly that is just how I always pictured it being, two hearts becoming one, closing the distance between them completely.**

 **I do like me my Jantom! Also, yeah you're right, Tom is holding back his feelings for Janna because he's sure after all these years of pursuing that he's supposed to like Star, only his feelings for Star are more out of habit now than anything else, and now he realizes that maybe he likes Janna and that his feelings for her are real. Also, yes, the part with Jackie was fun to write, I like the idea that Jackie doesn't need anyone in her life to be happy and can do without romance.**

 **Oh man, that is a great twist, actually! Again, should have given myself credit because the second I described the figure I thought, "Well know everyone is gonna know who this is?" So glad I actually did fool you for a bit. Also, now that you've said something, I'm starting to think about how Rhombulus will act once he sees Marco! Oh boy, I honestly can't wait for their first meeting now!**

 **Finally, oh wow, I'm honestly lost for words! Like seriously it is so nice of you to say that my story is good enough to be a professionally written book! I don't think I would ever actually do that, because I think it works better following that of the Star vs characters and would have to change too much to make it it's own, but honestly that is just so sweet of you to say! I do put a lot of effort into this one to make it the best I can and it's always great to hear that my hard work as paid off!**

 **Monkey lover 911- Well, gonna be honest, probably won't see a whole lot of Heinous for now. I brought up them going for another princess so it would make sense why they didn't immediately go after Star again. Also, yes, yes he will ask soon and his parent's origins will be quite soon as well! As for Jantom, well I will have more of them later on, for now Tom has to go back to the Underworld and blush for days as he tries to make sense of his sudden realization to liking the girl, as well as work up the nerve to speak to her again in the future, haha XD Thank you for the comment!**

 **CallmeTaylor- Thank you! It was a lot to squeeze into one chapter, but I did it and with success! We will see more of Heinous later but for now she won't be as much in it as much in the beginning, having her go after another princess was more to give a reason why she wasn't immediately going after Star than anything else. We will get to her motives just not right away. Oh my gosh, I do love writing River when he goes back to his barbaric ways! He is such a fun character and I liked establishing that he is still more acting the part (poorly XD) than is actually is the strong, levelheaded ruler he pretends to be. Especially when he believes his daughter is in danger, then all bets are off. Yes, I love my Jantom and the scene between them was sooo much fun to write, their relationship is just so interesting to me, I wish the show would give us a little bit of them in the future even if it's just as friends. Imagine the destruction they could cause! So glad you loved and gave it such a high rating! Hope you love this one as well!**

 **Guest- Hahaha, yes, well you know what? Star vs is also the best anime ever! *DAB* Haha, dabbing is fun.**

 **VladimirVamp- Ahhh, thank you, so glad you enjoyed it! It's always fun to meet new fans of my work! Also apparently newcomers always binge it, which is incredible! I always take my time reading a new fanfiction, unless it's one I just love to pieces and then forget to eat and sleep until I finish it! Haha, I'm a mess! But still, thank you so much for your kind words, Star and Marco are my precious babies and I do try to make them as cute as I possibly can! So as is tradition I will leave you new friend with hugs... *Hugggsss!***

 **Next update: 3 weeks**


	22. Rafael and Angela Diaz

Chapter 21: Rafael and Angela Diaz

 **Hello Stardom! thDorkMagnet is back here to bring you all a new chapter! I hope you are all having a great week! Sorry for my absence, life's been kinda hard lately, nothing to worry about I promise and I'm doing much better now.**

 **So anyways, here it is the one you have all been waiting for, the backstory of Marco's parents! I know I don't normally do this, but I wanted to explain the format for this chapter real fast so no one gets confused. The parts where I do a backstory or flashback are gonna not necessarily take place from Buff Frog's perspective exactly, though he is the one telling the story. Instead it will be like a look into the past to that moment and can be seen through the eyes of any character or in a sort of fairytale-ish style. Just wanted to say that just so I don't have anyone confused by how Buff Frog could know what a different character was thinking at the time.**

 **And before we get started I also wanted to say a quick thank you to all of my awesome readers for all of the favorites, follows, reviews and for just reading and enjoying my story! And we have now reached over 200 favorites! Yay! Thank you all so much, you guys support is what keeps me writing and I appreciate all of you! So I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I will see you at the bottom!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs. and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The small clearing was filled with noisy chatter and happy laughter as the portal opened up to the spot, Marco, Star, Jackie, Janna, Beard Deer, Bearicorn, and Lobster Claws hearing it even before they stepped out of the swirling portal. Once they had, though, the four teens all took a long look around, while the deer Monster closed the rip in dimensions back up again. The other Monsters were all hard at work, hauling heavy boards to and fro, so distracted in their tasks they hadn't noticed them yet. Marco's gaze quickly switched to the source of their hard work and couldn't help but smile.

The newly made cottage was coming along nicely, the foundation already filled in and finished, as well as quite a bit of the construction of the walls, the place already looking homey and welcoming, even in its half-finished state. He honestly wasn't sure how they had gotten so much done in such a short time, considering how busy they were with other, more important things, but as he saw many new, unfamiliar faces and the largely increased number of Monsters present there, he realized Buff Frog had asked for extra help in the Monster community. After all it was a big job, rebuilding the burned country home his parents had once lived in, knowing they had had to of completely clear out the reduced rubble that had remained before they could even begin construction, but he was thankful and glad they had put the work in, feeling like, in this way, there was still something left of his parents.

The boy jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see Beard Deer smiling down at him, asking, "So Marco, what do you think?" Marco looked back at the half-finished home, he didn't remember what the original had looked like, having been a baby at the time, but he had no doubts that this was defiantly a close comparison, though it seemed they had made it quite a bit larger than the last one, which made sense considering how many Monsters would be going in and out of the place.

Marco smiled again, giving an approving nod, before telling the Monster, "It looks great! Buff Frog's going to love it!" He had been overjoyed the second he had been told that they would be rebuilding the home to make a place for their new Monster leader to live, no Monster wanting to return to the dark and dreary castle, all of them shuddering at the very thought of it, the memories within still too fresh and painful. So it was decided that instead they would make a new base for their leader, Buff Frog choosing the once cozy country cottage instantly. It was the perfect spot, lying (almost intentionally) on the very outskirts of the Monster's territory but still within close distance of the Butterfly's land. Its location made it quite useful for helping to continue the ever-strengthening peace within the two kingdom's new alliance. And, of course, it would allow Buff Frog to be near his son and still be able to continue running the new Monster society he was creating.

Beard Deer ruffled a claw through Marco's hair, interrupting his thoughts once again, as the Monster gave him a soft look, saying, "Glad you like it."

"Buff Frog is even working on making your own room, so you can come over anytime you like," Bearicorn said.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Lobster Claws added with a goofily large grin on his hard face.

Marco nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah, it is! I can't wait to see it when it's done!" Marco exclaimed. He quickly turned to the blond beside him. "Doesn't it look great, Star?!"

"Yeah, it's looking pretty good," Star replied enthusiastically. "I'm impressed you guys have gotten so much done, so fast!"

"Well we called in a ton of extra Monsters to help with the building and that's really made things a lot easier on all of us," Beard Deer explained, but Marco was no longer listening, now searching for the Monster that had called them there in the first place, finally seeing him standing over with a group of Monsters. His face was scrunched up with seriousness, looking down at the large blueprint in his claws, before saying something to the others around him and pointing in a direction, seemingly giving them orders, though Marco was too far away to hear what it was.

Marco didn't even hesitate as he began running toward his father, yelling, "Buff Frog!" Buff Frog looked up from his work with a wide, loving smile as he saw his adopted child racing over and handed the blueprint over to a Monster beside him. All the other Monsters turned hearing the shout, some even stopping in the middle of their tasks, watching as the young boy as he ran to his dad's open arms, happily trapping himself in Buff Frog's warmth and strength. "Marco!" Buff Frog cried as he lifted his son off the ground, holding him close, chuckling softly. "It good to see you, son!"

"It's good to see you, too, dad!" Marco replied, equally enthusiastically, as he squeezed his father as hard as he could, the week the two had spent apart causing Marco to hunger for his father's love and attention and he wanted to soak up as much as he could right then.

The other Monsters watched the exchange, before some went back to what they were doing prior, none of them really caring all that much about the display of emotion, only there to finish their job and go home. Buff Frog's main group of Monsters, however, quickly dropped what they were doing as they went over to greet their young charge, happy to see him as always.

Finally, Buff Frog set the boy back down to his feet, as he turned to look at the three Monsters he had asked to bring his son there, saying in a slightly accusing tone, "Though I do admit, I expected you here a bit sooner."

"Yeah sorry boss," Beard Deer said rather sheepishly. "We got..." He paused, rubbing at his still aching cheek with a grimace, thinking of the young redhead's beating. "Uhh, held up."

"Yeah, we got beat up this teenager, who was apparently a knight or something," Lobster Claws instantly added and Beard Deer shot him a glare.

"And also a girl," Janna felt the need to point out, earning her a dirty look from the deer Monster.

"Thanks for that," he growled at the crustacean, upset at his friend for practically giving his young rival a chance to humiliate him. Lobster Claws shrugged, raising his claws in the air and giving his friend a sheepish grin, showing his innocence for the slip up in hopes Beard Deer would forgive him.

"Well whatever reason, I just glad you here," Buff Frog said, as he put a muscular arm on his young son's shoulder, the boy grinning up at him in response.

But the smile dropped as he tried to nonchalantly ask his frog father the question that was burning at his insides. "Soooo, dad... are you gonna tell me about my parents now?" He couldn't keep the excitement or impatience out of his voice, as he eagerly awaited the response, his hands folded in an almost begging manner in front of him.

Buff Frog smiled as his son's eagerness, before saying reassuringly, "Very soon, Marco. We about to be done for day. Just give me few minutes to wrap things up."

"Oh, okay," Marco said hesitantly, giving his dad the smallest of nods. Even though his head was swimming with questions and his heart was racing so quickly that he felt like it might explode, he knew his dad had duties to attend to first, so he tried to be understanding and patient in the matter.

Buff Frog seemed to see his son's true feelings because he gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, saying in a reassuring voice, "I won't be long, I promise."

With that, the frog reluctantly walked away, going back to directing the Monsters under his command to wrapping up the construction for the day, overseeing everything as he shouted orders and gave them the last few commands for the afternoon.

Once he was gone though, Marco was overwhelmed by a massive group hug from the other Monsters, all hungry to give out affection for the boy and ignoring the work still needing to be done in favor of showing this. Star, Jackie, and Janna, just watched the scene unfold with slight chuckles, smiling at the sight of Marco gushing over the attention from his family, laughing in surprise and joy as his face beamed with pride.

Finally, the Monsters peeled themselves off of him, all except for one, a red two headed Monster. "Marco, I missed you!" one of the heads said in a very high pitched voice, as he clung onto the boy's back.

"Well I missed you more," the other head said in a lower, more gruff tone and Marco felt the hug tighten.

"Uhh, I've been missing him this whole time," the first head shot back, his tone becoming harsh.

"Well, I was missing him even before he was gone!" the second snapped, with a look of anger on his face. Meanwhile, with every exchange Marco felt the Monster's grip tighten more and more, to the point the hooded boy felt like his back was being crushed and his limbs were breaking apart.

"Can't. breathe!" he managed to gasp out, his face contorted into a frown and the two finally released their hold as Marco gasped for breath.

"Oh sorry, Marco," first head apologized with a look of remorse.

"Yeah you should be sorry, you nearly killed him," the second said, giving him an angry scowl.

"Me? You were hugging him, too!"

Before Marco could quell the argument, the boy felt himself being lifted off the ground and he gave a surprised squeak, only to find himself being hugged firmly, but gently by Spikeballs, who hadn't been able to join in on the group hug. "Hey Spikeballs!" Marco greeted cheerfully, as he allowed the large Monster to hold him suspended in mid-air.

"Hey Marco," the large Monster replied. "You've gotten bigger," he added.

Marco blushed at the compliment, before responding shyly, "Aw, you're just saying that."

After a moment, Spikeballs set the boy back down on the ground and Boo Fly instantly landed on his shoulder, Marco turning his head to look at the little Monster.

The fly's thousands of eyes lay on him, as he asking in a questioning buzz, "Zzo, Marco, how wazz the dance with Zztar?"

"It was good," Marco replied lightly.

Big Chicken clucked something to him and Marco shook his head. "Nope, no problems, everything went really well, actually," Marco lied, still not wanting to tell any of the Monsters about what had happened. "Didn't it, Star?" he said, turning to his girlfriend for conformation.

"Yep," Star said with a nod, a smile gracing her lips. "It was... magical," she added with a sigh, as she looked over at her bestie. She easily caught his eye and instantly got a dazed, love-struck look on her face, Marco doing the same. For a moment, she just stared into his soft, chocolate brown eyes, which were alive and shining with joy, and Star knew they were thinking the same thing, as they fantasized the moment the two had been captured in the red moon's glow. Star felt an extra thump in her chest, almost like she had been transported back in time to that moment, but after a second it was gone.

"Well, go on, tell us everything!" came Lobster Claws excited command, pulling the two out of their moment and back to reality, as they looked back at the Monsters, who were all nodding, waiting fervently to be told the whole story.

"And don't leave anything out," the little fly currently weighing down Marco's shoulder added.

Marco tried not to let his look of nervousness show, as he looked to Star for help, knowing that there were several things about that night they couldn't talk about. And none of his friends looked okay with the idea of the hooded boy telling the Monsters what had happened, as they all silently slapped themselves for not coming up with a good cover story before now, knowing how bad the brunette could be at lying. "Uhhh, well-" Marco started but luckily was saved from having to stumble his way around another lie as Buff Frog called to the other Monsters. "Hey, we still need more help over here! You can talk to Marco and friends later!"

The Monsters all sighed and groaned in disappointment, but didn't argue with their leader as they all left to help with the country home's construction, several shuffling their feet as they went. Marco and the three girls all let out relieved sighs as they were left alone once again, Janna even commenting, "Well that was a close one." To which the others all nodded and mumbled their agreements.

…

A few minutes later, things had settled down, the last of the work was finished for the day and all the stranger Monsters had left, the clearing now silent and peaceful once again. leaving just Buff Frog, his main group of Monsters, and the four teens. Marco once again approached his father, who was rolling up the blueprint to tuck away somewhere safe, trying to ask his frog father in a patient tone, "So, are you ready now?"

"Da, now I ready," Buff Frog responded, smiling at his son's excitement, as he set the folded paper down.

"Yes!" the boy cheered, pumping an excited fist into the air.

Buff Frog sat down, thankful he was under the shade of a tree. "Come," Buff Frog said, motioning the boy over to him and Marco instantly obeyed, plopping himself down next to the Monster. He looked up at his dad, expectantly, as he waited for his father to begin. The others just stood there awkwardly, not sure if they should intrude on the moment, but were also overwhelmed by curiosity.

Finally, Star asked hesitantly, "Uhh, so should we go and let you guys talk or..." She pointed behind her, looking between father and son.

"We don't want you to feel like we are intruding on you or anything," Bearicorn sheepishly added and Buff Frog instantly waved the comment off.

"You are not intruding. You are welcome to stay, if Marco fine with it," the Russian frog said. He looked down at his son, waiting to hear his response.

"No it's fine, guys, you can stay," Marco replied, giving them a reassuring grin and Buff Frog smiled. He had been sure that's how his child would respond.

"Are you sure?" Jackie asked, a bit skeptically.

"Of course," Marco said, nodding his head. "You guys are my family, too. You all deserve to be here."

The others all smiled at the comment, before all taking seats in the shade, gathering around the two. Once everyone was settled they all turned to the frog, waiting silently to hear the story. But Buff Frog's gaze was once again on Marco, as he asked him softly, "So what do you want to know, Marco?"

"Everything!" Marco responded instantly, his voice an excited shout. "Tell me everything you can about them!"

Buff Frog laughed at his son's eagerness, before repeating, "Everything? That might take a while."

"I don't care, I want to know everything I can about them," Marco replied.

"Well in that case..." Buff Frog said softly, as he paused for a moment, lost deep in thought, trying to think of where to even begin, every moment agony to Marco as he waited with held breath. Finally, after a moment, the lead Monster opened his mouth and began, Marco hanging on every word, as the story of his family unfolded before him.

"Many years ago, there lived young Mewman woman and human man..."

…

 _Rafael Diaz was 25 years old the day he first met Angela. It was his first time on Mewni, first time on any dimension other than Earth actually and he didn't know what to expect going there. His work had brought him, he was a builder, helping to make beautiful homes for the people on Earth. But when he had been hired for a job on the closely allied dimension, he had been skeptical, not sure what he would be getting himself into._

 _But, upon arrival to the rustic and enchanted dimension, he quickly fell in love with Mewni's unique beauty. He could see why the dimension was so frequently talked about back on Earth, it was quite a sight to see. The landscape was draped in beautiful colors that were not even known on Earth with lush and mysterious flora of which Rafael could only guess the nature or purpose of, the small towns and villages looked like something out of a fairytale and the sky above was the most glorious shade of pink he had ever seen._

 _To say Rafael was in awe of the world was an understatement, it was enough to make him wish he hadn't given up on his career as a painter in favor of a more stable job. He wandered through the village of the Butterfly Kingdom with a look of wonderment, his jaw dropped open as he gawked at every sight the world had to offer._

 _But it was the sight that came next that changed his world forever, that caused his heart to stop beating and his mind to come to a screeching and shattering halt, leaving him frozen in his tracks as he stared at the beautiful sight before him. Because it was at that very moment he saw 'her' for the first time. She was sitting in a small garden that surrounded a large building in the town, her hands were digging underneath the fragile ground, as she seemed to be struggling to remove a small red flower from its roots. Her face was contorted as she focused on the miniscule task and her face was smeared with dirt and mud, but to the man she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in all his days._

 _She had gorgeous auburn hair that flowed down her back, the puffy and curly hair contained only by a pink ponytail. Her skin was fair, causing her strikingly green eyes to be more prominent. She wore an orange-long sleeved shirt and an olive green skirt hanging modestly low. At the moment she was wearing a cream colored apron, which was caked with mud, but it helped to compliment her features nicely, causing the man to flush all the more. She wore, oddly enough, brown sandals, quite a strange choice for what she was doing, but Rafael felt it gave her a quirky charm. She was biting her lip in the cutest way, her lips an unbelievably bright shade of red._

 _But, most breathtaking of all were the symbols on her cheeks. They were a pair of light pink flowers, which glowed brightly in the sunlight. He didn't recognize what flower they were, but they looked quite cute gracing her cheeks. He had seen his fair share of the unique looking marks that were common of Mewmans, but he had never seen any as charming as the one on this beautiful woman's face._

 _Finally, she seemed to win her battle against the plant as she pulled it free from the soft ground, setting to gently down in a small pot. She sighed, wiping some sweat off her brow with her arm, but suddenly seemed to realize she wasn't alone, as she turned in Rafael's direction._

 _Her green eyes widened as she looked to the man who had been staring at her for the last several minutes, her heart skipping a beat and her cheeks flushing some in embarrassment, causing her cheek marks to light up pink, well a brighter shade of pink. But once she overcame her shock, she found herself studying the man, looking him over and finding herself strangely attracted to him._

 _He had short brown hair and tanned skin. His cheeks lacked any markings so Angela knew he had to be human. He stood tall, with broad shoulders that looked so strong and manly that it made Angela feel faint. He had a light yellow shirt with dark yellow and white patterns running down the middle, the top partially opened, exposing the large muscles that no doubt lay beneath, which caused Angela's blush to worsen even more. She found her eyes pausing on that spot a bit too long, before forcing herself to study him further. He wore dark gray pants and yellow shoes. Overall, he gave off an air of masculinity that could not be ignored. Though, his brown eyes showed a passionate and caring heart that lay beneath all his toned muscles._

 _Finally, after several more minutes of awkward gawking, Rafael cleared his throat, saying in the strongest voice he could, really not wanting it to crack in front of the pretty woman. "Hello there," he said, raising his hand in greeting and giving her a wide (but hopefully not creepy) smile._

 _Angela gave him a soft smile back, waving at him with one of her dirt-stained hands, her cheeks continuing to flush, as she greeted shyly, "Hi."_

 _They both paused, not sure what to say now, but surprisingly Angela recovered first, as she moved a stray hair behind her ear, asking him softly, "Did you come to buy a flower?"_

 _"Oh, uhh," Rafael said, before looking up at the building again, realizing now that it was a flower shop. "Yes!" he blurted out far too fast, before clearing his throat and saying much slower, "Y-Yes, I would love a flower."_

 _The woman nodded, giving him a business-like smile, gesturing to the front door. "Well then, why don't you come in and look around," she said, her tone warm and inviting._

 _Rafael obeyed, following her inside, the woman quickly setting down the flower pot on one of the shelves within. Rafael did a quick survey of the inside of the shop, the whole place filled with flowers and plants of all shapes and colors, some Rafael had never even seen before. A sweet smell drifted to his nose and he couldn't help but breath it in, the aroma intoxicating. He wondered which flower it was from or if it was a combination of all of them being in the same, small space for long periods of time that was creating the delectable scent._

 _While Rafeal was busy with that, Angela quickly washed her hands free of the caked on dirt and then wiping them on her apron as she approached her customer again. "So," she said, gaining his attention back to her, as she shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It seemed her hair fell into her face a lot. "Do you know what kind of flower you want?" Angela asked, trying not to get distracted by how mind-numbingly handsome the man in front of her was or the fact that his caramel colored eyes were focused on her and only her._

 _"Uh, no, I'm not really sure," he said, uncertainly._

 _"Well that's no problem," the young woman replied, sweetly and Rafael felt like he was melting from her stunning smile. "There are lots of flowers to choose from. How about I show you some of our best sellers?"_

 _Rafael nodded numbly, suddenly lacking the capability of speaking, as he followed the woman over to a cream colored flower, its petals looking like pearls. "This one called the Moontide Tip, it's one of our rarest flowers, because the conditions to grow them have to be very precise."_

 _"Oh, it's beautiful!" he said in admiration. "Was this grown on Mewni?"_

 _"Of course. All of our flowers are grown here," the woman said proudly. "This particular one is found along the coastlines of Mewni's lakes and beaches and only glows in moonlight. At night, it glows a pale pink. It's quite exquisite, isn't it?"_

 _Rafael nodded again, but he froze as he noticed the price tag on the pretty flowers pot. "And expensive. Do you have anything else?"_

 _"Yes, of course," Angela said, moving over to a different flower, Rafael following her. She stopped by what looked like an ordinary bouquet of roses, all of them just a regular blood red color, nothing magical or different about these._

 _"Roses?" Rafael observed, studying them closely._

 _"Oh, you know them," Angela said in surprise._

 _"Of course, they are very common on Earth," Rafael explained, feeling a swell of pride in his chest, the woman looking quite impressed with his knowledge of the flower._

 _"Oh, so you are from Earth," Angela said, excitedly. "I guessed as much," she added, hoping it didn't make her sound creepy or stalkery._

 _"Yes," Rafael said, not seeming to notice. "This is my first time here, actually. To any other dimension, really."_

 _"Oh, well what brings you here?" she asked._

 _"Business, mostly," Rafael explained._

 _"Are you planning on staying long?" she asked, surprising herself as the question just popped out. She was also startled by how excited the question was, even as it left her lips._

 _"Only for a few weeks, I'm afraid. Just until my job is done," Rafael responded, also surprised by how sad his voice sounded just then._

 _"Oh," Angela said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She forced herself to sound cheerful as she added, "I've always wanted to go to Earth, myself, actually. I hear it's a beautiful, lovely place!"_

 _"Well, to be honest, I don't think anything back on Earth could even begin to compare to what this dimension has to offer," Rafael admitted, with an awkward chuckle, rubbing at his neck. "Everything here is..." Rafael couldn't stop himself, as his gaze landed on Angela, lingering on her pretty face as he breathed the last words. "..quite beautiful."_

 _Angela felt her cheeks flush, but quickly cleared her throat, turning back to the flower in front of her. "So anyways," she said, trying to regain her business-like tone, but unable to quite keep the squeak out of her voice. "These aren't ordinary Earth roses. These are called 'burning roses'."_

 _"Why do they call them that?" Rafael asked, but no sooner had the question left his throat, then he got his answer, as the vase full of flowers all lit themselves on fire, small flames flowing around the crimson roses. He screamed in shock, taking an instinctual step away from the roses and stumbling over a pile of discarded flower pots nearly falling onto another plant, which looked like a giant version of a venus flytrap, its vegetated jaws opened wide as it awaited its prey. Angela reached out a hand and grabbed the man's arm, ignoring the thick muscles she felt, before pulling him away from the deadly flower, the man panting breathlessly for a moment._

 _"Are you okay?" Angela asked, keeping a firm hold of his arm._

 _"Yes, I'm fine," Rafael said, once he caught his breath again, though he could still feel his heart in his throat. Once she was sure the man was okay, she released her grasp, trying to not be disappointed in having to do so._

 _"I am so sorry!" Angela apologized, her green eyes wide with fear and guilt, kicking herself for nearly killing one of her customers and losing a possible sell. "I'm sure you probably want to leave now, I'm sorry for wasting your time-"_

 _"No it's fine," Rafael said, giving her the most comforting smile he could despite the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Angela just froze, looking at him in shock. "I still would like a flower..." Rafael hesitated before adding a bit timidly, "...preferably one from you."_

 _Angela was silent for a moment, unsure what to say. To be honest, she hadn't expected him to continue trying to buy a flower from her. In fact, she had been expecting him to run out of her shop in an attempt to get as far away from her as possible._

 _"That is, if you still want me to," Rafael continued, his caramel colored eyes cutting deep into her soul and doing strange and wonderful things to her heart, as it seemed to be refusing to beat in its proper rhythm. Finally, after a long moment of staring, Angela smiled at him and Rafael couldn't help but feel his world had just become a bit brighter from the act._

 _"Yes, of course," Angela said, the relief in her voice unmistakable and Rafael felt great knowing he had cheered her up. "So which flower would you like to see now?" Angela asked, quickly looking around for the best and brightest (and least dangerous) flower she had, in hopes it could appease her customer, combing through the shelves in search of the perfect one."We have so many kinds, after all. And not all of them are so... um, intense as the last ones." Rafael held back a chuckle as the woman began rambling to herself, as she searched. "Let's see I think we have a Sparkling Snapdragon in here somewhere. Oh, but I do think those have a tendency to actually snap at people. Umm, what else? Well, we just ran out of the Unicorn's Breath and we won't be getting another supply from the Cloud Kingdom until next week. Uhhh, how about-"_

 _"Which do you like best?" Angela looked up from her work, turning to her handsome customer with surprise and confusion in her wide green eyes._

 _"Huh?" she asked._

 _"Uh, the flowers," Rafael repeated himself. "Which one is your favorite?"_

 _"My favorite?" she asked, checking to see if she had heard him right, putting a hand to her chest as one of her eyebrows raising up in the cutest way..._

 _Rafael felt his heart skip a beat at the adorable look and had to suck in a breath before he was able to speak properly again."Yes, you do seem to know a lot about flowers and I can tell you truly love them," Rafael explained._

 _"Oh, well I, uh..." Angela began, rising to her feet again, not sure how to respond to that. No one had ever asked her that before and she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell this random stranger something so personal. But she froze, as she eyed the man in front of her for a moment, his relaxed, curious smile making her feel at ease and even trusting of the man in a way she had never felt before toward anyone. And there was something about the way he stared at her, watching her intently with those beautiful caramel colored eyes as if he was staring at the most interesting sight in the world. She felt like he understood her, despite the fact she hadn't even told him her name yet and so without even realizing it, she found herself saying, "Crimson Lilies. My favorite are Crimson Lilies."_

 _"Crimson Lilies?" Rafael repeated, breathing the word out in wonderment._

 _"Yes, I mean, they aren't the most flashy or fancy of any of the flowers for sure, but I like them," Angela said, rather nervously, as she bent to down to retreive the pot that was hidden under the counter. "They don't actually sell that well, though, because they're so plain looking. Most people want something more fancy and beautiful." Finally, she hesitantly brought the pot into view and Rafael could instantly see what made her love the flowers so much. It was a fairly small flower, its six petals spread outwards in a beautiful manner, much like other lilies, but this one was a bright red color with yellow tips on each of the petals. It did look quite plain on first glance, but it's vibrant color was attractive to the eye and could easily hold its own on any other plant in the small shop. Plus, there was something nice about how simple the flower was, not trying to be anything impressive or fancy but just a nice, modest flower with an ordinary, but pleasant look._

 _The whole time, Angela watched him with waited breath, for some reason quite nervous about his reaction to her favorite flower, wanting him so badly to like it, almost needing him to. Why? What did it matter what he thought? He was just another customer, right? So why should it matter if he liked the Crimson Lilies or not. And yet, she still ached to know his answer._

 _"They are lovely," he finally said, his gaze finally matching her own and Angela felt herself breath a sigh of relief._

 _"You really love them?" the Mewman woman asked, almost fearfully._

 _"Yes," Rafael said with a nod. "In fact, I would like to buy one."_

 _Angela smiled, her eyes shimmering with joy and her cheek marks glowing softly, Rafael in awe at the sight, having never seen anything remotely like that before. He had seen a few Mewmans in his life so he was used to the cheek marks, but he had no idea that they could glow like that. "Great! Oh that's fantastic!" she cheered, quickly running to get her sheers so she could remove the flower without damaging it. Rafael just smiled, finding her bright enthusiasm impossible to resist, she had such a nice zest for life and he really appreciated that in a person._

 _Once Angela returned, she quickly clipped one of the flowers free from its brothers, wrapping the stem in a soft and easy to carry cloth, before handing it to the man. Rafael reached into his pocket to pull out his money and handed it to her. "Thank you for your business," she said, pleasantly. "Miiissster..." she inquired, Rafael just then realizing that he had yet to tell her his name or asked for hers._

 _"Oh yes, I'm so sorry. Where are my manners?" he quickly stumbled his way around an apology, before rapidly stating, "It's Diaz. Rafael Diaz."_

 _"Angela," the Mewman woman stated, reaching out a hand for him to shake and he happily obliged, as he repeated the name over and over again in his head, finding it perfect for the beautiful woman in front of him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Diaz."_

 _"Just Rafael, please," he said, giving her a brain-numbing smile, pulling out of the handshake._

 _"Well, Rafael, I'm sure whoever that flower is for will love it. She seems like a very lucky woman. " Despite how much Angela knew it was bad idea, she couldn't quite help herself, as she found herself shamelessly flirting with the man in front of her, her gaze teasing and her lips forming the slightest crease of a smile. She even batted her eyelids a bit needlessly, as her allowed her hand to brush his for just an instant, leaving a tingling sensation in the tips of her fingers._

 _Rafael picked up on her change in tone and felt his face grow hot, the woman in front of him acting just a little bit more than friendly all of a sudden. And as he felt her fingers brush his own, a shudder rushing up his spine, he knew what the woman was trying to do. He looked down at the flower in his hands for a second, building up the courage for what he was about to do._

 _"Yes, she certainty is," Rafael said his tone a bit flirty as well, as he held the flower out to her, offering it back to the woman._

 _Angela froze, eying the flower in surprise, before her bright green gaze switched to Rafael, his caramel brown eyes holding steady on her face, a deep and powerful emotion hidden behind them, as he just patiently awaited the young woman to take the lily flower. "What are you doing?" she asked, needlessly, her voice just a bit breathless._

 _"Giving you a flower," he replied. "It is your favorite, after all."_

 _"Oh no, I can't accept this," Angela politely declined, giving his hand a gentle push away from her._

 _But Rafael was persistent as he grabbed her hand and gently set the bright red flower onto her open palm. "Of course you can," he said, sounding quite adamant about her taking it. "It's my flower, now, so it's mine to give to whoever I want."_

 _"But we've only just met," Angela continued to argue. "I mean, I'm just a stranger to you. Why would you give me anything?"_

 _Rafael shrugged. "I wanted to. Besides, I do feel a bit guilty for wasting your time. The truth is I didn't actually come in here to buy a flower."_

 _Angela froze at his confession, though she had already guessed as much, it was still quite strange to hear him admit to it. "Then why did you?" she asked, really hoping it was the answer she was thinking._

 _"So I could meet you," he said and Angela felt her heart swell, as she was proven correct. A large grin spread across her face and her gaze became soft and loving as she looked at him. She gently squeezed the flower in her grip, as she shyly admitted, "Well, I'm glad you did. Thank you for the flower, Rafael."_

 _"Your welcome, Angela" he said, before he turned away to leave and Angela felt a wave of panic overwhelm her._

 _"Wait!" she shouted and the man quickly turned back around to face the beautiful young woman named Angela. She hesitated for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassment for the shout, but she finally asked, "Will you... be coming by again?" She gulped unable to believe she was really asking this. He was still just a stranger, after all. A stranger who had given her a flower, sure, but still a stranger. He was not obligated to return to the tiny shop for any reason and that is exactly what frightened her so much. She really wanted to see him again._

 _And after Rafael studied her face for a moment, he smiled and said, "Yes, I think I will come by again tomorrow. If you don't mind me wasting more of your time, that is."_

 _Angela shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all." She paused before saying, in a sweet, borderline flirting tone, "I'll look forward to your visit, Rafael."_

 _"Then I will see you then, Angela," he said back and the young woman felt a shiver run up her spine as he said her name, his voice so gentle and soft when he spoke the word. He treated it like it was the greatest compliment or flirt ever, instead of something as simple as her own name, but it felt so right and genuine hearing it come from him, that it got the exact same effect if he had said the sweetest remark possible._

 _And just like that, Rafael left, leaving both of the young adults breathless and longing for more, silently awaiting the moment when they would meet again._

…

"So that's how my parents first met?" Marco asked, his voice never losing an ounce of excitement, as his adopted father paused the story.

Buff Frog nodded his heard. "That's how I was told, at least," he replied.

"Aww, how romantic," Star gushed from the sidelines, many of the monsters doing the same.

Next to her Janna fake gagged and Jackie smacked her arm. "Oh stop it, you know you found it sweet, too," Jackie scolded, seeing through her friends charade in a second.

Janna huffed, before crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Okay, maybe it was a little touching," Janna admitted with a shrug.

"It was like something out of a fairytale," Marco said, a smile gracing his lips. "Meeting and falling instantly in love."

"Kinda like someone else we know," Janna smirked, eying the blond next to her knowingly. Both Star and Marco blushed at that, but said nothing.

Marco coughed to clear his suddenly tight throat as he said, "Well don't stop now, Buff Frog. Keep going." Though his words were demanding, his tone was quite the opposite, sounding warm and filled with delight, his brown eyes twinkling with anticipation.

Buff Frog just smiled, before obliging his son, continuing where he had left off, once again.

...

 _Rafael kept true to his word, as the next day he came to visit Angela, as well as the day after that and the day after that. In fact, every day for the next few weeks Rafael followed the exact same routine, he would stop by the small flower shop, talk to Angela for a short while, before buying another Crimson Lily and then immediately giving it to her. And every day, Angela would be overjoyed to see him every time he came in. The two became very close as the days went by, easily and happily opening up to one another, freely talking all about their lives and experiences, as they got to know each other personally. And soon, it seemed as though the two had never been apart, acting like they had been friends all their life, instead of growing up in completely different dimensions with no knowledge of the other's existence._

 _Both Rafael and Angela couldn't even remember what life had been like before they had met, they both went so perfectly together, fitting so fluidly and easily into their life that it seemed like they were supposed to be a part of it and quite honestly they liked it so much better that way._

 _So when the day did come for Rafael to return home, his work there complete as he went in for what could be his last visit with Angela, he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to the beautiful Mewman. In fact, he instead impulsively stated that he was moving to Mewni, permanently. Angela was so overjoyed to hear that the man she was falling for wanted to remain on Mewni with her that, without thinking about it, she pulled him in for a kiss._

 _Rafael was surprised by the sudden act, but was so overjoyed and lost in her lips that he didn't push her away and instead allowed it to happen. When the two finally did separate, Angela quickly apologizing for acting so irrationally, Rafael surprised her with another gentle kiss, confessing that he had been waiting for that to happen since the moment they met and Angela quickly admitted to wanting the same, before they went it for another breathless kiss._

 _The two started dating after that and as time went on, their bond became even stronger and their love continued to grow. Eventually, the two got married, moving into a cozy little cottage on the edge of the Butterfly Kingdom's territory and just bordering on the monster's land. The home had been a wedding gift for Angela from her husband, knowing how much she enjoyed being out in nature and hated the hustle and bustle of city life. Life for the young couple was peaceful, as they lived out the early days of their marriage in love and harmony._

 _But soon, trouble arose as the monsters caught wind of the young couple who were staying on their land and became outraged by it. The monsters, already so low on rights and oppressed by the Mewmans, found it completely disrespectful that the Diazs would dare to try and claim their land for themselves, taking away the only right granted to them by the unfair Mewmans. They began to threaten the Diazs, claiming they would do mean and terrible things to them if they didn't leave and keeping a group of tough looking monsters almost constantly just in view of the cottage as a constant reminder and warning, trying to scare them into moving away._

 _But Rafael and Angela didn't budge, as they begged the monsters for the right to live there, explaining to them that they wanted nothing but to live their lives in peace and meant no harm to the monsters. But the monsters were too full of hate, not listening to the young couple's plea. Eventually, the current leader of the monsters caught wind of the trouble and showed up at their cottage one day, flanked by a large group of intimidating monsters. But before Rafael and Angela could even explain their plight, the leader gave them a chilling ultimatum: if they weren't gone from the monster's territory by early Spring that next year, then the monsters would have no choice but to take matter into their own hands. And then, as quickly and suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone taking his entourage of monsters with him._

 _Rafaela and Angela were of course frightened by the harsh threat, but felt at a loss of what to do next. They didn't want to leave their home, but the threat from the monsters hung thick in their minds. It was Rafael who came to the decision that they had no choice but to move, not wanting any harm to come to his wife. He proposed that they pack up and return to the Butterfly Kingdom where they would be safe from the monsters until they found a different place to stay. Angela reluctantly agreed._

 _But unfortunately, they never got the chance._

 _Winter came and it brought with it a harsh and uncaring cold that swept through the land. It was one of the worst winters Mewni had ever seen, rivaling only that of the very first winter the Mewmans experienced upon arriving to the new world. In fact, it was so cold that even the Underworld Kingdom was said to be freezing over. The world was covered in a blanket of ice and snow, snowdrifts piling higher than some houses, while the landscape was assaulted by a furious and unforgiving blizzard the likes of which no creature on Mewni had experienced in their lifetime. Many believed it to be a curse brought on by the Stump, who had grown furious with peoples lack of belief and decided to punish them for their skepticism. But most simply blamed it on snow dwarfs._

 _For days on end, the blizzard terrorized the landscape with its harsh, wintery breath, seeming to never slow or end. And as the days stretched on, many began to wonder if the winter storm would ever cease, as every day it only seemed to grow more and more intense._

 _All this boded very badly for Rafael and Angela Diaz, who found themselves now cut off from the Butterfly Kingdom, leaving them trapped in a cold and barren landscape, with the monster's ultimatum hanging ever thick in their minds. And yet, all they could do was wait and hope the storm ended soon._

 _A week passed and the blizzard showed no sign of stopping, so Rafael decided to bravely face the storm and try to make his way to the Butterfly Kingdom to get help. After bundling up as much as he could, he began his long and dangerous trek, as blinding snow stung his face and the violent wind tried everything in its power to knock the well-built man down. Still, Rafael pushed forward, reminding himself of what was at stake, keeping his thoughts on his lovely wife to help keep him going. Rafael had no idea how far he had traveled, nor if he was still even heading in the right direction and his resolved weakened. He took a moment to try and decide if he should push on and hope he was going the right way or try and backtrack and see if he needed to go a different direction._

 _Rafeal was just about to force his freezing muscles forward until suddenly he heard a small voice crying out in the distance, nearly drowned out by the harsh and unforgiving wind. Fearing the worst, Rafeal followed the weak sound, until he found a sad sight, almost hidden in a pile of snow. It was a young monster child laying huddled in the snow, his whole body shaking and shivering as he curled up on himself trying to find any form of warmth in the bitter coldness around him. Rafael felt his heart ache for the child and, forgetting his mission, carefully carried the child back to the house, making sure to hold him as close to his body as he could to help give him warmth. Once he returned home both he and Angela worked to nurse the monster back to health, caring for him to the best of their abilities. They wrapped him in warm blankets (even sacrificing a few of their own to do so), laying him down close to the fire as they spoon fed the shivering little thing spoons of warm and delicious soup, the child too weak to do it himself, as he felt his body slowly warming back up. At first, the child was weary of his saviors, his short few years having taught him of the cruelness of Mewmans, but he quickly overcame his fear as the Diazs love and compassion slowly helped him come around and see Rafael and Angela for the good people they were._

 _Meanwhile, the storm outside continued to rage, as cold and bitter snow and ice was flung hazardously to the ground, beating against the country home, but the residents within remained safe and warm as they waited out the winter storm. For the monsters, however, things were far from peaceful, they were in constant fear the moment they realized one of their own was missing. Not knowing he was in the safe and capable hands of the Diazs, they worried that the young one's life had been claimed by the blizzard and many had given up hope that one so young could have survived such and ordeal._

 _And finally, after what felt to Mewni like a lifetime, the storm finally passed, the snow drifts left behind melting as the bright sun returned to shine over the enchanted kingdom once more. As soon as they were able, the monsters went in search of the missing child, led by the monster leader himself as they desperately looked for the young one. They eventually came across the cottage, only to find the boy in the care of the Diazs, much to their shock and outrage. The monsters once again blinded by their hate, believed that they had stolen the young monster to use as a bargaining chip, using the storm to cover up their crime. The leader of the monsters had been ready to sentence them both to death for their supposed treachery, as the truth finally came out who exactly had been staying under the Diazs roof and care all this time. The young monster boy was none other than the leader's only son an future ruler of monster kind. To say Rafael and Angela were in shock upon hearing this was an understatement, but they now feared the worst for themselves, knowing the monsters wouldn't listen to their pleas. But before, the leader could condemn the Diazs the child spoke up for them, telling the monsters how they had saved him from the storm and nursed him back to health._

 _Of course, the monsters were surprised to hear this, none moreso than their leader, unable to believe Mewmans capable of such kindness. He told them that he owed them a debt of gratitude for saving his son and that they would be spared, much to their gratitude and relief. But the leader wasn't finished yet, as he further declared that from that day forth Rafael and Angela, as well as any who carried the Diaz name, would be forever considered an ally and friend to the monsters and would be protected from harm. And of course, the young couple was allowed to live there for as long as they saw fit._

 _Rafael and Angela were obviously overjoyed to hear they could stay, but were also slightly humbled to know that they were now thought of so highly in the monster community. And the monsters adhered to the rule, treating the two Mewmans with as much respect as they would their own, their name almost holding a regality amongst their numbers._

 _But the Diazs didn't let the weight of this new position go to waste. In the years to come they cared for many, many monsters, their home becoming a place of sanctuary that any monster was allowed to visit at any time, to the point that sometimes their small, two-story house would be overflowing with guests of all shapes and sizes, but they didn't mind, enjoying having company and lively energy in their home._

 _But they didn't stop there. They would also vocally protect the monsters from the Mewmans, jumping to their side on the rare occasion there was an incident between the two races, and even petitioned Butterfly Castle, calling for them to change their laws and give the monsters more rights and freedom, trying desperately to rally any and all Mewmans to their side to no avail. In fact, they were vastly ignored by the majority of Mewmans, though some showed clear distaste for their strange love of monsters. Eventually, it came as no shock, when they were shunned from Mewman society, none daring to associate with them and the Diazs resided themselves to living amongst nature and the monsters. Not that they minded this too much. They had a purpose in life and they intended to give everything they had to fulfilling it, no matter the cost._

…

"Wow, my parents were incredible!" Marco said, as Buff Frog's finished up his tale, absorbing the information. "Saving a monster kid from a blizzard, opening up their home, and fighting for Monster rights even though all the Mewmans thought they were crazy. They really did do a lot to help the monsters out."

"Da," Buff Frog agreed. "Your parents were good people."

"Must be where you get it from, Marco," Star said, causing Marco to turn to her with a shy grin.

"And to think none of that would have happened if they hadn't saved that kid. Otherwise the Monsters might have just killed them," Jackie pointed out.

"This is also true," Buff Frog said. "Is strange how things work out. Bad situation turning into a good one. Your parents made most of what they had."

Marco nodded his head in agreement for a few seconds, looking deep in thought. "But what happened to that Monster, the one they saved, y'know afterwards?" Marco asked, looking up at his frog father with curiosity in his eyes.

Buff Frog got a soft look on his face, before he said quietly, "He became very close to parents. They were nearest and dearest friends. Over years, he grew to love them as if they were part of family. And they treated him as if he was, too."

The frog Monster drifted off into silence, not saying a word, his eyes distant and Marco became concerned why his father seemed so sad all of a sudden, sharing a look with his three friends. "Buff Frog?" he questioned, hoping his dad would respond. But after several seconds of silence, he asked, "Did... Did you know him?"

Buff Frog chuckled a bit at that. "Actually, Marco, little monster baby... was me."

The four teens, as well as Lobster Claws, all gasped at that, blown away by this revelation. The Monsters all turned to Lobster Claws with questioning looks, Beard Deer, asking, "Why are you surprised? We already knew that?"

"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot," Lobster Claws said, a bit sheepishly, and the Monsters all either face-palmed or shook their heads in disbelief at their fellow Monster's stupidity.

"So wait," Marco said, drawing everyone's attention back to the situation at hand. "Your dad was the leader of the Monsters back then?"

"Da, my father, Volkoz Bulgolyubov, was ruler of Monster kind, as was his father before him and his father before him. The Bulgolyubov's had been ruling the Monsters for countless generations. I was set to take his place, until..." Buff Frog's voice drifted off and Marco felt his heart clench, knowing what came next.

"Toffee," Marco mumbled under his breath, the very name sending a chill down his spine.

"Da," Buff Frog said sadly. He took a deep breath, before continuing much stronger, "He was right hand Monster to my father after old one retired. He came recommended, but he and my father didn't get along. He insisted we fight Mewmans and take land back, but my father didn't agree. I very suspicious of Toffee, but not much I could do to stop him. I suspected that he and another Monster, Ludo, were plotting something bad, but I had no proof of such things."

Buff Frog paused for a moment, seeming to find the strength to continue, Marco able to tell that this was hard for his father to talk about. "Dad, it's okay," Marco said, putting a comforting hand on his adopted father's beefed up arm. "You don't have to-"

"No, no, Marco," Buff Frog insisted, shaking his head, as if to free himself from the sadness and grief that consumed him. "You need to know full story." Though Marco could tell Buff Frog was still choked up with it, Marco nodded, pulling closer to his dad and leaning his head against his muscular chest. Buff Frog smiled at the comforting action, running a claw softly though his son's hair, as he continued his story. "One night, my worst fear was confirmed. I was away on mission when I got word that my father was found dead in bedchambers. I rushed home, only to find that he had passed away in sleep."

"What happened?" Star asked.

Buff Frog looked up at her for a moment, with a startling depressed gaze. "Nobody knew. Most believed it to be caused by heart attack." Buff Frog stopped stroking his son's head as his claw clenched into a tight fist. "But I never believed it, my father was healthy and very cautious. He took great care in protecting himself and me. Always told me to be careful, even built secret passages into castle, in case of emergency."

"Well that explains how you knew about them when we went to rescue Marco," Janna pointed out.

"Da, though I didn't expect Toffee to know of one," Buff Frog said.

"So then, if your dad died, wouldn't that make you the new leader, not Toffee?" Jackie asked, confused.

"That is what supposed to happen," Buff Frog answered. "But to my surprise, Toffee was claiming himself new leader. He told Monsters that he could help bring new peace and free them from Mewman rule. Sadly, my kind bought into his lies."

The other Monsters hung their heads in shame, feeling guilty for believing Toffee's lies for as long as they did, knowing they had been a part of the problem.

"Why didn't you just challenge him?" Star asked. "The position was rightfully yours after all, wouldn't the Monsters have followed you if you had?"

Now it was Buff Frog's turn to look guilty. "I suppose it would have helped, but Toffee was very clever and cunning. Any attempt I made to take position back, he would easily counter. But now I see I just didn't try hard enough. You must understand, friends, I was very young at time and still grieving death of father. I was new to ruling and didn't think I had what it took to beat Toffee and in way wasn't sure if I would make good leader." He said it more like an apology than a statement.

"Still it was hard to watch in silence as Toffee took my father's place," Buff Frog continued. "He gave me position as right hand Monster, though I know it more out of show of power than anything else. As time went on, I began to see hatred Toffee was stirring up in Monsters and knew it wouldn't be long before war began. That is when I began to fear for your parents."

Marco's eyes glazed over with pain, as they slowly dropped to the floor, every word now feeling like a stab to the gut. "Though father's decree to protect them still stood and must be honored, I knew Toffee hated them deeply. They were symbol of peace to Monsters and if they died, Toffee could spread words of hate much easier. It would be risk on his part, but if he could find way around it, I knew lizard wouldn't pass up on opportunity.

"So I urged parents to flee from Mewni, back to Earth, where they would be safe, but they wouldn't go."

"Why didn't they?!" Marco asked in nearly a shout, his voice tight with emotion. "Then they would have been safe!"

"Because that is when they found out your mother was pregnant with you," Buff Frog explained. Marco felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes as his father continued. "Traveling through dimensions with unborn child could cause complications and they didn't dare risk harming you." Marco felt his throat close up, a lump permanently implanted there. "They were not welcomed by Mewmans, so I had no choice but to keep your existence secret, until you born and old enough to travel through portal."

Marco looked up for a second, his eyes locking with Star, as he noticed her worried gaze lingering on him. He knew from the look in her stunning pupils that she could tell how deeply this was hurting him, wondering for a moment, if she could feel what he was feeling like they had at the ball.

" I did everything in power to keep lizard and rest of Monsters from discovering truth about you. I feared worst if Toffee discovered your parents had heir and worked tirelessly to keep old friend's safe."

Marco couldn't take anymore, as he suddenly burst out, "So it's my fault!" Marco sobbed, allowing the tears to flow free, as he buried his head in his hands, his voice quivering with every word. "I-I'm the reason my parents are-are-"

"No!" Buff Frog interrupted, his voice firm but with a comforting undertone, as he pulled the boy onto his lap and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace. "No, do not think for one second that you are cause. Your parents loved you so much that they would protect you with life."

Buff Frog just held the boy close for a minute, softly shushing him, until the boy's gasped breaths and sobs died down and he gained control over himself again. He looked over to see Star now beside them, gently running a hand through the boy's hair, sympathy and unshed tears shining in her eyes, hating to see her boyfriend so upset.

"You parents wanted you so badly, Marco," Buff Frog continued. "All they had ever wanted was child and the day you came into world, was happiest I had ever seen them."

Marco sniffed, saying softly, "You were there?"

Buff Frog smiled down at his adopted child, "Yes, yes Marco, I was there that day. And it is memory I carry with me always." He rubbed his son back, lovingly, as the memory poured over him, recalling the memory aloud, recounting it as if he were there once again, that fateful day.

…

 _Buff Frog was anxious, not sure why he was there anymore. He was no help to anyone, just standing numbly and confusedly in the corner as Rafael and the two Mewman nurse maids ran around in a panicked blur, caring to the pregnant woman's every need, trying to quickly and efficiently help the delivery go smoothly. He had been honored when his old friends had asked him to be present for the birth, at first, but now he found himself in way over his head and in the most awkward position he could ever find himself in. In fact, he was starting to wish he had declined their offer, as he had been listening to his dear friend Angela's screams for the past 37 hours now. He honestly didn't know how she had a voice left after loudly shouting at the top of her lungs for so long._

 _But he knew the real reason he had agreed. He needed to be there, to make sure the two of them (soon to be three of them) were kept safe. Ever since Toffee had come into power and had been making threats against the Mewmans, Buff Frog had feared for his two closest friends. It was all talk for now, no Mewman luckily harmed yet by the lizard's dark promises, but he knew that could change very soon. The other monsters were starting to rally behind their new leader, though still a bit unsure of his methods, and his poisonous words were beginning to seep their way into their minds, wrapping around their brains and giving them a new fire and purpose. They were all so tired of oppression that Buff Frog was sure many of them wouldn't hesitate to do whatever the lizard asked if it meant freeing themselves from their miserable lives._

 _Which is why, Buff Frog still didn't understand why his old friends hadn't headed his warning when he had told them that they would be a target of Toffee. They knew Toffee was dangerous, the few times they had tried to vocalize in the Mewman's defense in his presence since his reign began, Toffee's normally calm exterior had cracked, reveling a far more malicious creature within as his sinister glare had frozen on them, the look sending chills deep into their very core as they felt his dark intentions from even a distance away. But, they had refused to leave, wanting to stay and wait till their child was_ _old enough and strong enough for travel, much to Buff Frog's exasperation._

 _He knew having a child was important to them, but if they were killed before that happened then what good would that do them. Weren't their lives worth the risk? Wasn't their child's safety more guaranteed back on Rafael's homeworld? At the moment, he couldn't think of a dimension more dangerous for the Diaz's now than this world and that included a dimension that regularly rained toxic acid from the sky._

 _Plus, he knew Rafael and Angie. His old friends were immensely stubborn. He had no doubt that a part of them didn't want to run from all they had worked toward. They had spent years fighting for peace in Mewni and he knew it had to be hard for them to give up on that dream just because of one monster. He knew how hard it had been for_ _ **him**_ _to accept defeat, but this was the world they lived in now. All that mattered was that his friends were safe. And Rafael and Angela were the only things resembling family he really had left._

 _A high-pitched cry pulled Buff Frog from his thoughts. It seemed that while he was lost in his daydreams, the birth had concluded, as the nursemaids wrapped a screaming thing in blankets, Angela laying against her pillows with exhaustion etched into her features, sweat glistening from her forehead. "There now, Angie," one of the nursemaids said softly, as she looked down at the tired mother. "You have yourself one beautiful, healthy boy."_

 _"Oh my, honey, did you hear that?" Rafael said, from beside his wife. He lifted her hand and placed a tender kiss upon it. "A boy, just like we wanted."_

 _"A boy," Angela whispered wistfully, though her voice was still strained with exhaustion. Her eyes were half-lidded as if she were fighting sleep, her every breath panted._

 _Then all at once, Angela's fatigue was forgotten, as the smiling nursemaid handed the bundle to his eager mom, Angela looking into the face of her child for the first time. It was love at first sight, as the child's crying slowly ceased as he looked up into the green loving gaze of his mother. There were tears laced in Angela's eyes as she smiled down at her baby, Buff Frog practically able to feel the love and joy coming off of the new mom, as she gently rocked her son in her arms. "Hello, baby," she said down to him, her tone soothing and soft._

 _Rafael, moved so that he was able to see his son, as well, putting a loving and comforting arm around his wife. The new father stared at his son for about five seconds, before tears rose to his own eyes, not ever caring as they flowed freely down his face. "He's beautiful," the man said, to no one in particular, his voice so strained with emotion that it sounded like it almost hurt him to be this overwhelmingly happy._

 _"He has your eyes," Angie said, never taking her eyes off of the child for a single second, gently reaching into the swaddling cloth to presumably run a hand on his smooth cheek._

 _"And he had your smile," Rafael added, leaning his head against his wife's._

 _"What shall we call him?" Angela asked._

 _Rafael thought for a moment, before answering. "Marco," he finally said, as his eyes took in every feature of his new baby's face._

 _"Marco Diaz," Angela repeated, trying out the name. She hummed thoughtfully for a second before saying, "Yes, I think that's perfect."_

 _Buff Frog sniffed, wiping a tear out of his eye, finding the moment touching and sweet. He turned to leave wanting to give the new parents their privacy, but was stopped as a voice called out to him. "Buff Frog?" Angela said, the frog turning back to his old friend. She gave him a soft smile, looking away from her child for the first time, as she asked kindly, "Would you like to hold him?"_

 _Buff Frog was taken aback by the offer, visibly freezing up in front of his friends, who just continued to cast smiles his way. "I-I, uh," he stuttered, unsure how to answer. He was just there to make sure things went smoothly, he hadn't actually expected to take part in any of it. "No, no, don't want to intrude on moment," he finally said, declining their offer in the most humble way he could._

 _"Nonsense," Rafael said, waving the frog's hesitancy away. "You aren't intruding, you're part of this family, too. And Marco's godfather."_

 _"Wait, I am," Buff Frog said in shock. This was the first he was hearing of this._

 _"Well, of course you are, Buff Frog," Angie said sweetly. "That is, if you want to be."_

 _Buff Frog pounded a fist against his chest. "Would be great honor," he said, proudly._

 _Angela and Rafael shared a look. "Then come over here and hold your godchild," Angela pushed. Buff Frog approached hesitantly, almost fearfully, as he creeped closer to the new mom. She held out the baby in waiting, as the frog gingerly took the child from her, moving slowly and carefully, afraid if he didn't the child might break in his muscular arms._

 _Angela noticed this and told him reassuringly, "Oh, Buff Frog you don't have to be so tense, you aren't hurting him."_

 _This didn't ease Buff Frog's worries any, as he still held the newborn awkwardly in his arms, giving a pleading look to the couple. Rafael thankfully jumped to his rescue, stepping around the bed and showing Buff Frog how to properly hold the child, the amphibian looking far more relaxed once he had._

 _Finally, the frog looked down at the child of his oldest friend's and his body froze up once more. "Buff Frog, is something wrong?" Angela asked, worriedly, seeing her monster companion tensing up. But Buff Frog's throat was too tight to respond, as he swallowed back the lump that was slowly building. Time seemed to come to a stand still as he took in the small face staring back at him. Two perfectly beautiful brown eyes, so full of life and innocence stared at him, curiously examining the monster holding him with no fear. Small strands of soft looking brown hair framed a tanned face, a small little mole dotted just below his left eye making him look too cute for words. A soft smile lit up Marco's face and he giggled at seemingly nothing, the very sound melting Buff Frog's heart. And last but not least, were the two stunning suns glowing bright red on his cheeks, which only burned with more intensity when he laughed._

 _"Buff Frog?" Angela tried again, wanting to make sure her friend was okay, but Buff Frog barely heard her, still dazzled by the small, little thing currently held in his arms. Buff Frog had never seen anything more beautiful and pure in all his life and he couldn't help himself as he found his eyes welling up with tears. "No," Buff Frog finally replied to Angela, once he got his voice back again, though it was soft and low. "Everything is fine."_

 _Angela gave him a soft smile, as she watched her friend, holding the baby close to him, as if trying to show his love and protectiveness toward the child already. Buff Frog just couldn't believe how incredible this was, here he stood, holding a brand new life, a miracle in every meaning of the word. Marco was just so tiny and delicate, looking so helpless in Buff Frog's beefed up arms, and at that very moment the frog swore that he would protect this baby, that no harm would ever befall the child on his watch._

 _Just like Marco's parents, Buff Frog had fallen in love with this child, instantly. And he knew his life would never be the same again. And he welcomed the future with open arms._

 _After another moment, Buff Frog handed the baby back to his parents, allowing them to admire and fuss over their infant, as they continued to soak in the new life they had helped create. They both held the baby close to them, staring down at his soft, little face with unparalleled love._

 _Despite the darkness that was beginning to slowly spread across the dimension of Mewni, for one family at least, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter that day, for that was the day that Marco Ubaldo Diaz, son of Rafael and Angela Diaz, half-human, half-Mewman child, was brought into this world._

…

"So you see Marco, parents loved you moment they laid eyes on you, as did I," Buff Frog finished, giving his son a reassuring squeeze. Marco was wiped his eyes free of the tears that had started flowing half-way through the story. Only this time his tears weren't of regret or guilt, but instead of joy. His parents had loved him, they had really, truly loved him. Enough to risk their lives for his own sake.

But there was another emotion he felt, hidden behind all the others, one that caused a lump to implant itself deep in his throat and his heart to ache. Loss. He had felt this emotion before, most notably when Toffee had first told him of his parent's true fate, but this time it felt even stronger if that was possible. Because now he knew just how much his parents had cared for him and now he would never truly experience it. He would never feel the warmth of their hugs or know their smiles, he would never hear their voices as they told him how much they loved him. No, he would never know what any of that felt like, because it was stolen away from him by Toffee, the cruel lizard killing any chance he had of a life with his birth family.

"And then-then Toffee killed them, right?" Marco said, once he had gained enough of his voice to speak, though the lump that continued to choke him. His body shuddered as he said the name, trying not to imagine his families last moments as they died to the cruel hands of the heartless Monster.

Buff Frog gave his son a sad look. "Da," was all he could make himself say.

"And you know what happened? That night..." Marco asked after a moment.

"Da, but..." Buff Frog said hesitantly, looking deep into the hurt in his son's brown orbs.

Star put a hand on Marco's shoulder. "Marco, you don't have to push yourself," she said with concern. "There's no shame in wanting to wait. It's okay if you aren't ready."

Marco considered her words. He took in a shaky breath trying to steal his nerve. He had to know, no matter how painful it would be, he had to see this story all the way through. He had to know what had happened that dreaded night.

Finally, Marco shook his head, saying as firmly as he could, "No, I want to know the rest." His voice faltered a little, but everyone could hear the resolve in his shaky tone.

Buff Frog sighed. "Very well."

…

 _Buff Frog slammed the door to the Diaz's house open, not even bothering to knock, thus startling the residents within. "Buff Frog?" Rafael said in surprise, rising from his seat on his comfy sofa. But he instantly grew concerned when he saw the fear in his old friend's eyes, the monster panting heavily in front of him, looking on the verge of collapsing. "What's wrong?" he asked, as the gasping Buff Frog shuffled into the house, closing the door behind him and locking it firmly._

 _"Toffee is coming!" Buff Frog said, as he turned back around, his voice still slightly breathless, but the seriousness in his winded accent sent chills down Rafael's spine._

 _"Really, are you sure?" Rafael asked, as Buff Frog moved to look out the curtains, which raised even greater concern in Rafael, which wasn't stilled any as Buff Frog breathed a breath of relief, letting him know they were safe for the moment. He was acting as if he expected the lizard to already be there, how much time did they have?_

 _"Da, positive. Though it seems I beat him here," Buff Frog said, his tone grave._

Well at least that answers that _, Rafael thought, though now he could see just how perilous a situation they were in. The two heard creaking above them and they turned to see Angela coming down the stairs, a look of confusion on her face._

 _She had just been putting Marco to bed, when she had heard the door slam. She had been fearful it would wake Marco, but to her relief the boy slept on, his face peaceful as he was lost to a world of innocent dreams. She had quickly left the room to go see what had caused the disturbance only to spot her husband and Buff Frog. Though it seemed it wasn't a pleasant visit, as the two hovered close to the door, whispering worriedly to each other, the look of fear on their faces setting off red flags in Angie's mind._

 _When they turned to her, she looked between the two for a moment before asking, "What's going on?"_

 _"Toffee is on way," Buff Frog quickly explained and Angela felt her heart stop, putting a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened in fear._

 _"No," she murmured in disbelief._

 _"How do you know this?" Rafael asked, as he put a comforting arm around his wife, trying vainly to still her fears._

 _"Saw him sneaking out of castle," Buff Frog explained. "I caught a glimpse of his eyes and saw murder in them."_

 _"But you don't know that that means he will come here," Rafael weakly argued, trying to cling to some kind of hope that they would be spared Toffee's wrath._

 _Buff Frog shook his head, before saying darkly, "He will come. You are biggest threat to his plans."_

 _"But I thought you said Toffee wouldn't attack us without risking the monsters turning against him," Angela pointed out._

 _"Toffee is crafty. He will find way to cover tracks, I have no doubt," Buff Frog replied. Rafael and Angela looked at each other helplessly. They had known that this day would come, hoping to stall long enough till they could leave, but it seemed their time had finally run out. "You must hurry and leave, could be here at any moment," Buff Frog told them, urgency in his tone._

 _"Oh, Rafael, what do we do about Marco?" Angela asked, clutching her husband's hands tightly, fear for her son causing her to almost break down in panic. "He's still too young to go through dimensional portals."_

 _"We will just have to move him somewhere safe on Mewni, for now," Rafael said, giving his wife's hand a reassuring squeeze._

 _"I have safe place for you all. It will hide you from Toffee for a while," Buff Frog reassured them. And it was true, he had spent months trying to find such a location in just such an emergency, though he had hoped he wouldn't have to use it. It was in the middle of a filthy swamp, one that was almost deserted, even the locals staying clear of the area. There was apparently some kind of rumor going around about some kind of beast living within the bog and that was enough to scare off any trespassers from going there. It would be safe, the amphibian knew it was the last place Toffee would think to look, but he had hesitated taking them there. As safe as the bog was, it was hardly a place for an infant, especially one as young as Marco._

 _But now it seemed they had no choice, the monster hardening his resolve as he made his decision. He would protect the Diazs with his life if he had to. He turned back to the window, drawing the curtains partially back, as he said to his friends, "I will stand guard while you make preparations, then I take you to safe place-"_

 _"No." Buff Frog froze at the firm voice he heard from the normally sweet Angela, turning around to face the young woman in confusion. Her green eyes held a level of fire in them which he had never seen before. "You take Marco to safety, we'll stay here and hold off Toffee as long as we can."_

 _Buff Frog felt his heart stop at the crazy idea, as he loudly argued, "What, no?! I get you all out of here!"_

 _"There isn't time," Rafael said, a finality to his tone that caused Buff Frog to shiver. "You must get Marco away, before Toffee arrives. He cannot know about him."_

 _"But you will die!" Buff Frog shouted, fear clenching tightly to his chest. But he saw the stubbornness in his old friend's eyes, they had already made up their mind and nothing was going to change it. Still, Buff Frog had to try. "I will not allow you to throw lives away like this! Think of Marco, do you want him to never know of parents?!" Rafael and Angela flinched at that, but stood firm, much to Buff Frog's dismay._

 _"We are thinking of Marco," Rafael argued. "And as much as we don't want to leave him, we will if it means keeping him safe."_

 _The amphibian was almost in tears at this point. Rafael and Angie were like family to him, he wasn't sure if he could bear losing anyone else to Toffee's dark ambition._

 _"Please, Buff Frog," Angie begged, the desperation in her voice shaking the monster's resolve. "You must protect Marco. His life is all that matters."_

 _For a moment, Buff Frog just stared at the two parents, their eyes filled with love and an unshattering will and his filled with tears and hurt. But he couldn't fight it, he couldn't deny their last request to him. "Very well," Buff Frog said softly, his voice sounding so weak and vulnerable even to him, like it was on the verge of breaking. The words felt like acid on his tongue, knowing he had just sentenced them to death._

 _"Thank you," Angela whispered, sounding so relieved, but that only hurt Buff Frog more. He knew it was there wish but he felt as if he had betrayed them, making him feel as if he had killed them himself._

 _But there was no time for grief or guilt, as the parents quickly headed upstairs to their son's bedroom, Buff Frog following numbly behind. As the Diazs opened the door, Buff Frog could hear the gentle chime of the boy's mobile, as well as the almost inaudible snores of the child, as he slowly breathed in and out. Rafael and Angela gathered around the boy's crib, looking down at their son with sad eyes, trying so hard not to break down into tears, as they stared at their son's lovely face for what would be the last time._

 _Seeing him nearly broke both of their resolve, as their thoughts betrayed them, reminded of the future they would never see for their son. They would miss him growing up, never see his first steps or hear him say his first words. They would never see him fall in love or get married. They would never see their grandkids. So many experiences that so many other parents got to see and for a moment they were jealous of all the parents in the world for the things they got to see._

 _If there was any way for Rafael and Angela to take it back, they would have in a heartbeat. But they couldn't. If Toffee found out about Marco, their son would never be safe, the lizard would never stop hunting him. They had to protect him. They just had to._

 _Angela gently lifted Marco from his crib holding him close in her arms. Rafael wrapped himself around his wife, holding both her and their child in a tight, protective hug, as he tried in some way to console his heartbroken wife. The boy didn't wake, cuddling into his parents' warm embrace, not aware that this would be his final moments with the both of them. His warmth was so soothing and soft that it made Angela ache, but she blinked back tears as she whispered into Marco's ear, "Marco. I know you are too young to understand this, but we have to say goodbye now." Marco, unknowingly shifted in his sleep, his small head burying itself into his mother's neck. "We're going to go away, but we want you to know that everything we did, we did out of love." Angela's voice cracked and Rafael took over, as his wife struggled to find her voice again._

 _"And we know you are going to grow up into something so great and wonderful. You are going to change the world my son and we will be proud of whoever you become." Rafael gently ran a hand through Marco's soft brown hair, tears blinding his vision._

 _"And just know that we love you, Marco," Angela continued, her voice barely audible, moving the child so she could place her forehead against his. "And nothing will ever change that. And though it may seem like we are gone, a part of us will be with you. Always." As Angela whispered this promise, both her and Marco's cheek marks glowed, showing the love and connection of mother and son._

 _Buff Frog didn't dare to interrupt the moment, just watching the parents sadly, as they held their son for the last time. He felt his heart break as silent tears ran down both of their faces, as they just clung to their child, trying to fill him with a lifetime of love and affection._

 _Finally, the two pulled out of the hug, Rafael wiping tears from his eyes, as Angela wrapped the baby in a soft, red blanket before approached Buff Frog, the amphibian trying to ignore the broken look in her eyes as she handed him her son. "Take good care of him, Buff Frog," she said in a strained voice._

 _"I will," he said earnestly, trying to reassure the mother that her son was in safe hands. She leaned down and gave her baby a tender kiss on the head, Marco smiling in his sleep. Rafael approached the monster and baby and did the same as his wife, giving him a final parting kiss, running a hand a final time through his hair._

 _But the moment was interrupted as they heard a crash come from downstairs. "Hurry Buff Frog!" Angela shouted in alarm, pushing the monster deeper into the nursery._

 _"How will I get out?!" Buff Frog asked, sounding slightly panicked._

 _"Use the window," Rafael said, throwing the window to the room open, a rush of cold air sweeping into the room. But the three adults were too distracted by the danger below to care about the sudden drop in temperature, as Angela quickly shouted, "We'll stall Toffee, just get Marco to safety!"_

 _Buff Frog didn't argue as he put one webbed foot onto the tiny windowsill, it was a tight fit, but Buff Frog could just barely make it through, so long as he sucked in his breath. The frog pulled Marco in close to him, before taking one last look back at the Diazs, who clung to each other with sad looks in the their eyes. Buff Frog felt a single tear trail down his cheek, as he mumbled, "Goodbye, my friends."_

 _With that Buff Frog launched himself out the window and landing safely on the ground below. He pulled Marco away from himself long enough to make sure he was okay, but to his relief the boy slept on. Then, without hesitation, he ran into the woods, getting himself out of view from the house, fearing the lizard might look outside and see him._

 _Meanwhile, within the once peaceful country home, stood Toffee, looking around the small living room with a disapproving look. The door behind him was ripped off its hinges, showing how he had entered and his arms were crossed behind his back. He stood tall and firm, his jaw set in a tight line. He looked more like he was about to conduct a business meeting rather than assassinate an innocent family. And somehow this unnerved the Diazs all the more._

 _Toffee either suddenly sensed their presence or heard a creak from the stairs, as he suddenly whipped his head around to stare at them, his face switching to one of disgust. The two tried not to show fear as they descended the final steps, now only a few feet from the terrifying lizard. "Toffee, what brings you here this late?" Rafael asked, suspicion in his tone._

 _Toffee smirked, before hiding it behind his emotionless mask once more. "I'm not in the mood for games tonight, Mr. Diaz, so don't even bother to pretend. You know why I'm here," Toffee said in an almost bored tone._

 _Angela tensed up at the directness of the monster leader, but kept a brave face as she said, "We mean you no harm. Please just leave us in peace."_

 _Toffee shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You two inspire too much resistance in my monsters," he said simply. Though his tone darkened some as he added, "Besides, I already gave you plenty of opportunities to stay out of my way and yet you refused at every turn."_

 _This seemed to anger Rafael as he snapped, "That's because you were trying to start a war with our people! To turn the monsters against us! How could we stand by and do nothing!"_

 _Toffee seemed amused by this. "Your people? What a hypocritical thing to say, coming from a lowly Earthling!" Toffee exaggerated the word 'Earthling' as if it were some kind of insult, which only preceded to infuriate his wife._

 _"Do not insult my husband's upbringing!" Angela yelled at the vile creature, trying to think of the most vulgar insult to shoot back at him. "You- You monster!"_

 _Toffee's eyes seemed to narrow at this, anger on his face for the first time since arriving. "So now you show your true selves don't you?" Toffee hissed. He stalked closer to the woman but she refused to back down, until she was face to face with the lizard. "Tell me, dear Angela, do you know who first came up with that certain term for our species?"_

 _Angela remained silent, as she just continued to glare down the lizard, Rafael watching the uneasy exchange with clear discomfort, fearing his wife's safety. He looked into the fire that was burning behind her stunning green orbs. He couldn't think of a time when she was ever this angry._

 _"It was the Mewmans," Toffee continued, when Angela failed to answer. "When they arrived here, stealing our land and attacking us, they called us 'monsters'. Saw us as nothing more than vile, evil creatures. Even our names are an insult and every time that word is spoken it is just further proof of the cruelness of Mewmans."_

 _Angela's gaze seemed to soften for just a moment. "But that's why we want to change the laws, to give monsters an equal standing with us," the Mewman woman said, pouring her heart into the speech, some small part of her clinging to the hope that she could convince Toffee to change. "Isn't that what you want?"_

 _Toffee stared at her for a long time, before saying, "No." He leaned in closer to the woman, a sick, twisted grin spreading across his face. "I want the Mewmans to perish, only then will my race thrive."_

 _There was terror in Angela's face as she backed away from the monster, Rafael jumping in front of her. "You will not get away with this, Toffee!" Rafael screamed. "If we die then the other monsters will find out and know what you did!"_

 _Toffee looked over to the coffee table, where a lone candle lay, flickering and blinking in its vain attempt to light the dark room. Rafael followed the gaze and felt his heart stop, instantly understanding what the lizard was planning._

 _"No, I don't think they will," Toffee said, as he knocked the candle over, the flame catching on the coffee table, lighting the wood up in flames, and quickly spreading across the smooth surface and quickly jumping down the leg, as small patches of flames hissed to the ground._

 _Rafaela and Angela gasped, as they watched the fire beginning to consume their beautiful home, Toffee turning back to them with another sinister grin, flames flickering in his serpent eyes. "Now then, where were we?"_

…

 _Buff Frog smelt the smoke before he saw the fire. He was heading away from the country house as quickly as he could, trying not to jolt around the sleeping child too much, afraid to wake him, when he caught a whiff of smoke in the air. He turned back in the direction of the country home he had just left and felt his heart stop as he saw the smoke rising into the air. He didn't even hesitate as he turned back around, his feet moving without his consent. The next thing Buff Frog knew he was back at the house, watching as flames filled every inch of the once beautiful home and he felt his heart thumping in his chest. He did a quick survey and saw that Toffee was nowhere in sight. The lizard must have already left, fleeing the scene of the crime, before anyone arrived to help._

 _Buff Frog stashed Marco into a nearby bush, making sure he was well hidden, before running over to try and help his old friends. His mind was screaming at him to leave, trying to remind him of the promise he had made, but he ignored it, as he desperately searched for any sign of the Diazs, praying that they were somehow still alive. He continued his vain attempts to enter the home, trying to push fallen boards covered in flames out of his way, loudly calling their names, as his body become covered in soot and ash, his breathing heavy and labored. Tears would have covered his cheeks had he not been so close to the fire, the heat drying up any tears the monster shed._

 _Finally, after several minutes of searching, Buff Frog gave up the search. It was no use. They were gone. They were really gone. And he hadn't been able to save them._

 _Suddenly, Buff Frog was pulled from his sad thoughts as he heard a cry off to the side. He walked back over to the bush, his body sagging in defeat and as he parted the bush, he saw a pair of brown eyes staring up at him, filled with bright curiosity. Marco's cries were halted for only a few seconds before they started back up again, the baby screaming his lungs out as he tried to communicate his distress._

 _Buff Frog shushed the boy, as he lifted him back up into his strong arms. "There, there, Marco. Everything okay. Go back to sleep," Buff Frog comforted, keeping his voice soft. He began walking away from the house without another thought, rocking the boy in his arms as he tried to sooth the boy back into his dreams._

 _With some convincing from the monster, the boy's cries died down, as his eyes closed again, and a few moments was sound asleep once again. Buff Frog did his best not to think of what had just occurred, keeping his mind focused only on getting Marco away and to somewhere safe, unaware that a pair of sharp serpent eyes had observed the whole thing and a dark presence was now slowly and silently following along behind him._

…

"And well, you know the rest, Toffee caught up to us before I able to get you to safe place. He forced me to make deal in order to keep you alive, but that meant that we now lived under Toffee's claw," Buff Frog finished, his voice sounding broken and strained, though there was anger in his tone as he spoke of the deal, his hatred of the lizard far from over, even after his death. Though there was a bit more to it than that.

For a few moments, the entire clearing was dead silent, no one knowing what to say after hearing of the tragic event, all eyes focused on the young hooded boy. Marco's eyes were downcast, his face unreadable, a deep internal contemplation seeming to be going on within. He kept an empty gaze on the half-finished house that was now a reminder of the tragedy that had once taken place there. Beside him, Star was giving him the most comforting look she could, trying to silently reassure the boy that all was okay. If he wasn't still sitting in his father's lap, she would be holding him close to her, trying to shield him from all his troubling thoughts and protect him from the cruel truth he had been told. Instead, all she could do was watch as her boyfriend's adopted father tried to console the boy.

Jackie, taking control of the situation, turned to the others and said, "Let's give them there space, guys. Marco's got a lot to work out."

Most of the Monsters nodded their heads in agreement, rising from the ground and heading off somewhere to think over what they had been told. Lobster Claws on the other hand, continued to sit and watch until Beard Deer grabbed him by the arm and forcefully dragged him away from the spot, growling, "That means you too." Janna also rose, watching the three silently, her normally cryptic face filled with sympathy, but for once she didn't argue as she just followed after Jackie and the Monsters leaving the three alone.

Buff Frog watched as the clearing emptied, before returning his attention to Marco, studying him closely as he gently rubbed a hand on his back in a soothing motion, waiting for the boy to make some kind of response. But it seemed Marco had shut down completely, the hooded boy stiff in his arms and his face covered in shadows. It hurt Buff Frog to no end to see him in so much pain, but seeing the life that had drained from the boy's normally vibrant eyes was the worst of it all, Buff Frog feeling his heart shatter at the look, as his regrets consumed him. Finally, it became too much for him to bare as Buff Frog said in guilt-ridden voice, "I'm so sorry, Marco."

Marco finally looked up at his dad, taking in the almost pleading look in the amphibian's eyes. "I part of blame for what happened." Marco felt Buff Frog's grip around him tighten as he struggled to contain his emotions. "If I had stood up to Toffee, I could have saved parents, instead I allowed him to take position away and it cost you greatly. I often wonder how thing would have been if had just faced lizard. And then instead of saving parents, I ran away and left them to fate. I should have stayed and fought Toffee off, maybe then, I-"

Buff Frog paused, trying to gain his voice again. "Instead, I made stupid deal with him, I betrayed parents' wishes and you. It is greatest regret."

Buff Frog didn't dare look at his son as he finished confessing his crimes, fearing the boy would hate him for all he had done. There was a long pause that was heart wrenching to Buff Frog as he awaited the child's reply, feeling torn between impatiently wanting to just get it over with and dreading when it came.

"That wasn't your fault," Marco finally said, his voice soft. That was not the answer Buff Frog had been expecting, as he looked down at his child and was surprised to find sympathy beneath the boy's sad eyes. "Toffee's to blame for all this, not you. Toffee was crafty and manipulative and whatever he wanted he always got. Besides in the end, you did stop him and you saved me, so isn't that all that matters?"

Buff Frog felt his eyes soften, as Marco smiled up at him. Buff Frog slowly nodded his head, his voice too chocked up for words, before he pulled the boy into a tight hug, Marco finally returning the gesture. "I don't deserve good boy like you," Buff Frog whispered, his voice cracking.

As the two pulled away, Marco finally rose off of Buff Frog's lap and Star was able to give the boy a comforting hug as well, which Marco gladly accepted. "You okay?" Star asked, unable to hide her concern.

"I will be," Marco replied, his voice tight as he squeezed the girl tightly, a tear running down his cheek. Star felt something wet hit her shoulder and her heart clenched in sadness, but said nothing. As she pulled away from him, she studied his grief stricken face, taking in every ounce of sadness that was radiating off of him.

"If you ever need to talk about what happened, you know I'm always here for you," she reassured and Marco gave her a halfhearted smile.

"Yeah, I know," he said.

He turned back to his adopted father, giving him a far more cheerful smile, as the sadness began to creep away from his features. "Thanks, Buff Frog, for telling me about my parents. It was... nice to get to here about them," Marco said, his tone far away as he became consumed by recently resurfaced memories and emotions.

"You are welcome... Marco," Buff Frog responded, his voice stumbling as he tried to cover the word that had almost slipped. He had been about to call Marco "son" but he didn't feel the word was right to use just now, not after the boy had just discovered the truth of all that had happened to his original parents. Plus, Buff Frog still didn't feel he deserved the title, not when Rafael and Angela would have done a far better job raising their child.

"I just wish... that there was still something left of them, y'know. Something more than a house, which I am glad you're rebuilding and all, but... after all that they did for Mewni and me, it just isn't fair for there to be nothing to show for it," Marco said, looking almost angry at the idea of his family being robbed of a legacy.

Buff Frog studied the hooded boy for a moment, seeing so much of Rafael and Angela in him that it hurt, his reaction was so reminiscent to them that Buff Frog could almost picture Angela stubbornly crossing her arms as at idea of a Monster being treated unfairly, Rafael giving them one of his shameful stares that could shatter the resolve of just about anyone. Buff Frog saw them in Marco everywhere, the shimmer in his eyes when he was happy an exact replica to Rafael's, his smile too innocent and pure to be anything but Angela's, his uncontainable curiosity, his lust for life, the way he expressed himself so honestly and openly, they were all constant reminders of his old friends. The Monster missed them both greatly, but every time he looked at his child it was like a part of them was still there.

Buff Frog smiled, before saying, "But they are not all gone."

Marco gave him a confused, but hopeful look. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Buff Frog stood, walking over to the boy, looking down at him as he explained, "But Marco, do you really not realize, you are legacy they left behind. They live on, in you." He pointed at the boy's heart. "As long as you live life to fullest, then nothing they did was in vain."

Marco put a hand to his heart as he thought over what Buff Frog had said. He was all that was left of them, the only thing they had left in this world to remind anyone that they had ever existed. He was their legacy, which meant from now on it would be his duty to carry on what they had started. They had wanted peace in Mewni, but they had never gotten to see it. So at that moment, Marco silently vowed to bring equality to Mewni, a new fire driving him forward. This wasn't just about returning the kindness the Monsters had shown him, it was about preserving his families wishes and dreams. He wouldn't allow the Monsters and Mewmans to fight ever again. After all, he was a Diaz, he stood for something more than petty violence. And that gave him a new feeling of pride, knowing that his name meant something.

Marco smiled brightly, holding himself a little higher as he nodded his head, saying, "You're right. Thanks."

Buff Frog returned the smile as he said, "You are welcome, Marco. You should be proud to be Rafael and Angela's son."

"I am," Marco said. Then, out of nowhere, he threw his arms around the frog in another tight hug, as he added sweetly, "And I'm proud to be your son too, dad."

Buff Frog felt his heart skip a beat, surprised by the boy's kind words. Tears flooded his vision as he returned the hug, holding Rafael's and Angela's beloved gift and his precious child close to him, loving him enough it felt for all three of them.

Star just watched father and son hug quietly, not daring to break up the tender moment, her heart melting at the sweet display. For a split second, Marco's cheek marks changed, switching from glowing red suns into bright pink flowers before changing immediately back, but the three were so chocked up on their own emotions that not a single one of them had even noticed.

 **And that is that! This one was a roller coaster of emotions to write, but I am really happy with how it turned out. Now I know some of you (or a lot of you) were hoping that Rafael and Angie would be royalty but I've literally had this chapter planned from day one and I had to stick with my original idea. So sorry to disappoint anyone, but gotta stick with my guns on this one.**

 **The only part I actually debated on writing for this one was the scene where Rafael and Angela had to give up Marco and go to face Toffeee because I didn't want to destroy any of my readers with angst. But I decided it was necessary to show rather than just have Buff Frog tell Marco real quick. Still it was a tough part to write, showing their final moments as they went face to face with Toffee. Though I will say, I miss writing Toffee already, he was such a diabolical villain to write!**

 **So I am glad I managed to get this chapter out not too long after the new season started, though I will say I didn't realize the episode was coming out so soon until literally the day it started. Also, I haven't seen it yet, I don't have cable at my house and only have internet, I usually watch the new ones over at my friend's house, but she is sick right now so I don't know when I will get to see it. :'( So please if you would, no spoilers!**

 **Well that is all for me for now, I will be hard at work on the new one and I will see you all next time! Love you all, bye!**

 **Gamelover41592- I'm glad you liked it! Higgs was an interesting one to write because I wanted to keep some of her personality while making her actually likable in some way or at the very least capable of growth. And she was fun to write, hopefully I can sneak her in back somewhere into the story. Soooo, sorry for the wait on this one *sheepish smile* but I hope you enjoy getting to meet Rafael and Angie!**

 **Bedrock Armor- Haha yes that is totally what I was going for! Glad I could cause you an internal debate over what I had written. But allow me to sum it up for you to save you a headache, *clears throat* Higgs telling Marco he got his position due to being Star's boyfriend in the cannon is related to my own story has to do with a very complex and deeply relevant reasoning- Just kidding it's because Starco rules all and nothing else matters, Mwahahaha! *maniacal laughter***

 **Seriously, though I'm glad you noticed that! Also thanks for the suggestion for cheek marks but I decided to stick with the ones I had, they kinda grew on me. Hahaha I love your cutscene, but I shall do a follow up to it...**

 **(directly after Marco talks with Jackie)**

 **"Star?" Marco said, the blond princess turning to him with shock seeing his nervous but determined face.**

 **"Yes Marco?" Star said. "What is it?"**

 **Marco took a deep breath, but grabbing her hand softly in his, before bending down on one knee. Star felt her heart stop by the action, her cheeks immediately pooling with blood.**

 **"Star I-" Marco's voice squeaked, but he quickly cleared it before continuing. "Star I wanted to ask you something?" Star felt Marco's hand nervously twitching against her own and she gave it a gentle squeeze to urge him on.**

 **"Yes," she said."**

 **"Would you- would you-"**

 **The door suddenly burst open as Jackie and Janna entered in a rush, Jackie shouting, "Wait Marco don't-"**

 **"Would you become my permanent bestie and forever smooch buddy!" Marco quickly shouted.**

 **The room became dead silent, all three girls standing frozen on the spot, Marco looking up at Star with expectant eyes. Finally, Star began to laugh, her voice a sweet chuckle as she admired how adorable her boyfriend was, she pulled him back to his feet, Marco now seeing the slight tears in her eyes. "Yes of course I will Marco," she said softly, as she gave him a kiss on the lips.**

 **Jackie and Janna sighed before leaving the room, letting the two have their moment. Once the door closed, Star and Marco finally pulled apart from their breathless kiss, Star saying, "Okay now it's my turn to propose to you."**

 **(End scene)**

 **Thanks for the comment, hope you enjoyed my short continuation.**

 **Vladimir Vamp- Well wait no longer cause here it is friend! *excited cheering***

 **Sugar- Glad you liked it! Yeah I kept a lot of Higgs' core personality traits because I did enjoy her portrayal in the cannon but I wanted her to actually learn and grow in this one. I wanted her and Marco to make up and become friends in the end so I'm really glad I was able to get that across well! Their hug was cute to write and I liked Higgs getting embarrassed not because she is now needlessly crushing on Marco but because she doesn't want anyone to know she enjoys displays of affection. Haha, and yes Star didn't get jealous because she trusts Marco and knows he would never cheat on her like that. I do find that kind of thing needless and would only do that if it was written well or made sense, not just thrown it in there because... drama. Thanks you so much, I write my story the way I want it and don't care about the norm of the rest of the fandom. Not there is anything wrong with others stories but I'm writing this one the way I want and I do shy away from some of the more pointless cliches writers use, like a love triangle.**

 **Monkey lover 911- You are so welcome as always friend! Alas, sadly no they aren't. They are important in the Monster community, which you will find out how and why in this one, but no they are not of any royal decent. You are not the only one to ask but I decided to stick with what I had originally planned and that meant no crowns for this couple! Still hope you read and enjoy this one regardless and thanks for the comment!**

 **Celestialfyxen- Yeah that is actually a good idea! I went ahead and stuck with what I had cause they kinda grew on me, but thank you for the suggestion all the same. Also I am glad you are enjoying my story and I want to start off by thanking you for the comment sooo much! I always appreciate constructive criticism because I know it means that someone is taking the time to not only read my story but give me suggestions to try and help me become a better writer and I really do appreciate that! I won't pretend to be a perfect writer (because I am not), this is something I do for fun but I do put a lot of hard work into it all the same.**

 **So on the actual critique, I honestly never looked at Marco being seen as being mentally disabled but considering he has been isolated and mentally abused by Toffee all his life it would make sense that he is not completely all together, certain things you can only learn through real life experience are foreign to him and as a result it hinders his ability to understand or deal with certain concepts. I'm not disagreeing with your point, in fact, he probably does come across that way sometimes. I do admit I have a tendency to make Marco simplified and overly naïve because I genuinely enjoy that type of character so I do tend to write him that way and I do try and play up his lack of understanding to either a comedic or what is supposed to be an adorable level. In fact, originally Marco was going to be illiterate and I even debated in the early stages about a chapter where Marco wandered into the Forest of Certain Death and got into trouble because he couldn't read the sign.**

 **The Candle chapter existed not to give Marco hobbies but it more served to give Marco a starting point for future goals and interests as well as explain his Trait. Those will come later as Marco continues to find out who he is and what he is interested in. I am glad that you find everyone else at least is flushed out well, though am not sure I completely understand where you are coming from with Star. I'm not upset or disagreeing with your opinion I'm just not sure I see how Star is taking advantage of Marco. Maybe I just misunderstood you and I would love to hear back from you on that subject, maybe giving some examples of how. Though I will say, Star and Marco are supposed to shape each others views of the world, that is one of the core ideas of this story, them helping each other grow and learn about the world around them. What I wanted was for Marco to shape Star's world view just as much as Star does his, for example Marco swaying her perspective of how evil the Monsters are and seeing they are capable of good.**

 **I did wish to play up Marco's sensitive side because I don't enjoy the macho man very much and prefer them more sweet and innocent, this is just my style of writing I guess. I will say that yes the whole idea of the story is for Marco to slowly evolve and grow into a confident adult and that will continue to happen as the story goes on. Though I never plan on him losing his core traits.**

 **Finally, I have had this complaint quite a bit that Marco is weak and too dependent, that he needs to fight back more and I am working to try and resolve that. Marco isn't strong physically and isn't too big on violence but I wanted him to be clever and use his brain and own skills to help out in situations. Yes, he does depend on others which is something that even he has realized now thanks to Higgs, but he wants to grow and evolve past that point so others can depend on him. Also, if you think he is too weak in this one, originally in the fight against Toffee Marco didn't do anything to help. He was there to be kidnapped and I was even going to have Toffee break his leg before strangling him so he couldn't run. Buff Frog was supposed to take Toffee's finger but I changed it because I realized I needed Marco to do more in the fight than be the damsel in distress.**

 **So yes, I am working on Marco's character, but I will not change the core of who he is because he is a character that I do enjoy writing. I really hope you continue to read and enjoy my work and I assure you I am taking what you have said into consideration. I will always strive to do my best and I hope you do as well! I admit I still have to grow as a writer, but I will continue to work on that as well! Thank you again for taking the time to review to me and I hope my points helped clear some things up!**

 **Weirdo- Yeah, sorry it took longer than that to get this one out! Being going through so stuff lately! Hope you enjoy this one despite the wait! Let me try and make it up to you with some hugs... *HUGSS!***

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	23. Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 22: Decisions, Decisions

 **Hello Stardom! thDorkMagnet here, bringing you all more Star vs. goodness! So was gonna post this one like a week ago but I got sick with the flu for like a week and didn't feel like writing at all, because the universe just refuses to allow me to post a chapter in a decent time frame anymore. :'( That or maybe I keep staying up super late and making myself sick. Who knows?**

 **But whatever the reason, it's here now, so yay! Also quick clear up from the last chapter that I forgot to mention (which one of my reviewers SugarQueen97 caught, thanks by the way!): the reason Buff Frog was a little kid when he first met the Diazs and grew up with them was because Monsters age much faster than Mewmans do in my story, so Marco's parents were only in their early thirties when they had Marco. Just wanted to make sure no one was confused by that.**

 **I'm also now caught up with the series now, more or less, and am** _ **loving**_ **it so, so much! I won't talk too in depth out of risk of spoiling something for one of my readers, but man are the new ones good! Season 4 is shaping up nicely in my opinion. UwU**

 **Anyways, as always a quick thank you to all you lovely readers out there for your support and for enjoying my work. Thanks for all the favorites, follows and reviews they mean so much to me and always keep me going and make me want to continue to improve my story and writing.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter everyone! :)**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. (Though that would be cool) All rights go to them.**

It was very late at night on Mewni. A silver moon hung high in the sky, lighting up the dark world to the best of its ability, aided on by its twinkling companions. All was peaceful and quiet within Butterfly Castle, every sole within (save for the night guards) long since asleep. Everyone that is, except for a certain blond princess.

Star stirred in her bed, tossing and turning endlessly as she struggled to find sleep to no avail, the only sound in the quiet room being the rustling of sheets as the blond royal shifted around uncomfortably. Once she was in a semi-comfortable position she closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to take her. But she was once again interrupted by her thoughts. _...we will have no choice but to intervene._

The voice echoed around in her head for a minute, still hearing the threatening undertone it carried. And for her that was all she could take, sleep was no longer a possibility as she threw off her covers and climbed out of the massive bed. She began pacing around her room, determined to come up with some sort of plan before she allowed herself to rest. She needed to think. Needed a way out of this mess. They were running out of time and if she didn't hurry then-

The sleepy princess came to a stop, releasing a tired sigh as she rubbed her palms against her eyes, suddenly exhausted with the weight of her problems. But rather than head back to her waiting bed, she walked over to her couch, plopping herself down on the soft cushions and leaning her head back to rest on its back, her mind racing a million miles a minute.

Star thought back over the long day. It felt like a million years ago since that morning, she almost couldn't believe how much had happened to her during just one day. After assigning Marco a bodyguard and then discovering Higgs's abrasive behavior toward her boyfriend, she didn't think things could get anymore dramatic. But boy was she wrong.

The visit to Buff Frog and the story of the Diaz's had taken a lot out of both her and Marco, the roller-coaster of emotions Marco had experienced had clearly left him drained. Not that Star could blame him, it had been hard for her to hear what Marco's parents had went through and their tragic end and they weren't even her parents. She couldn't imagine what Marco was feeling right now.

Well, actually that was a lie, she did understand to a degree. During the story, Star had felt a strange stirring in her body as Buff Frog spoke, waves of emotions falling over her the whole time. A mixture of feelings that she couldn't control, all of them coming and going so quick that they left her feeling dazed. Happiness, joy, loss, sadness, anger, regret, pain. They cycled in and out, over and over, small spurts of intense feelings Star couldn't begin to comprehend or understand. And the more and more of them there were, the clearer things became for Star, as she realized that the emotions were not her own. They were Marco's. She was feeling what he was feeling. It must've been a side effect from the blood moon, but boy was it powerful.

She wasn't sure what had caused it, but had a feeling that it had to do with Marco's troubling emotional state, almost like the blood moon was trying to tell her to comfort her partner, by letting her know just how much it was affecting him. But there had been nothing she could do, knowing how much he needed to hear the truth, and so just endured the emotions with him, trying to take as much of the pain away as she could, and try to comfort him to the best of her ability.

Afterwards, the four had said their goodbyes to the Monsters and headed home, Star, Jackie, and Janna doing their best to cheer Marco up. They took him out to an ice cream parlor in town and then to Quest Buy, Star telling him to pick out whatever he wanted. Marco happily picked out some new books to read and a cool looking wallet that was supposed to be impossible for anyone but its owner to open. Janna had also seemed happy with this purchase, stating to Marco, "Challenge accepted." This caused her to receive a smack on the arm from Jackie. The gifts and attention did seem to perk Marco up quite a bit, until by the time night rolled around Marco seemed more or less himself again.

But Star could see that he was still understandably distressed, his eyes losing some of their shine and his smile forced and foreign. He turned in early for the night, thanking them immensely before heading off to his room, his pace slower than usual. It seemed it would take time for Marco to recover from learning of his painful past, but Star knew he could get past this and swore she would be there every step of the way.

But, besides Marco, there was another pressing matter, one that had fallen on her heavy shoulders and that she was reminded of almost the second the hooded boy was out of her sight. She had been too distracted trying to cheer up Marco to think much about it before, but now that that mission was done for the day, there was nothing to keep herself from fretting and contemplating her situation. Or rather the situation in Mewni.

Things in Mewni were looking bad, very bad, the unrest between the Monsters and Mewmans was worsening every day that passed and it seemed that if something didn't change soon, they were all looking at another war between the two races. Rogue groups of Monsters were caught attacking Mewmans, some even coming to the defense of Toffee, claiming that their leader's methods had been _just_ of all things. Ugh, it made Star sick just to think that. And the Mewmans were not helping the situation any at all. Many of the Mewmans still saw the Monsters as nothing more than evil, vile creatures, treating them less like equals and more like criminals waiting to be caught in the act. Both sides were weary and cautious and Star knew finding a way to get them to trust one another was going to be a very difficult task in deed. And now things had gotten even worse if that was possible.

Her mind began to drift even further back, remembering what had happened early that morning, when she had been painfully reminded how serious the situation really was.

...

 _The meeting room the Butterflies were currently gathered in was hot, stuffy, and confined, everything about the room almost intent on causing Star to feel discomfort while inside. This was the reason she had avoided the room like the plague during her time on the throne, but it seemed some old traditions refused to die as she found herself now trapped in the cramped space. And add to the fact that she had been in there for hours on end for several days straight that by this point it was all Star could do to keep herself from screaming and jumping out of the only window in the room, though the only reason she probably hadn't was because it had been boarded up years ago._

 _She didn't understand why they didn't just expand the room a little so it wasn't so claustrophobic, (they did live in a freaking castle, after all!) as is the room was just barely big enough to fit in their meeting table, which held at most six people. But whatever reason the conditions in the room were so terrible, it was private, the Butterflies free to discuss whatever they wanted within, which meant Star just had to suck it up and deal with it. She tried to keep her focus on the matter at hand, but was finding that rather hard to do when she was beyond bored out of her mind, had been sweating in what had to be unhealthy amounts all morning, and the hard wooden chair she was sitting in was starting to dig painfully into her back. She really wished Marco was there, knowing he would find a bright side to all of this and manage to put a smile on her face._

 _But instead, Star found herself stuck in a long, unending conference with her mother and the Magic High Commission, the self-proclaimed protectors of the magic of the multiverse, during one of their routine "check-ups" on the affairs of Mewni, their influence and connections to the dimension as long lasting as the founding of Mewni itself. In fact, her mother, like every Queen of Mewni before her, was a member of the Commission and someday Star would be as well, which meant she had to be present for the meeting. And though she was glad she was being acknowledged as one of them because she wasn't yet technically a member she was unfortunately not allowed to speak, only to "observe"._

 _Which basically just meant that Star had to sit there in silence while everyone around her droned on and on about the business and magical affairs of both Mewni and its allied dimensions, making her feel more and more out of place with every moment that passed, as well as heighten her boredom to new and even duller levels. And right now, it was taking everything Star had not to speak up, her mother taking the opportunity to question one of the members on a certain subject._

 _"And you are sure there is nothing more that can be done?" Moon asked, sounding dissatisfied by the answer she was given._

 _"As I already told you before, Queen Moon," a flaming, white-skinned creature know as Heckapoo replied, sounding somewhat sincere, though the look she was giving the queen revealed her true annoyance at having to repeat herself yet again. "If this Monster really did use something other than dimensional scissors to travel than I have no possible way to track him."_

 _"How can that be? Isn't it your job to oversee dimensional travel?" Moon asked in confusion._

 _"Normally yes, but there are a few people who have found ways to bend the rules a little and create their own dimensional gates. Sorry Moon, but you're on your own with this one."_

 _Moon sighed, trying not to show her obvious frustration in the matter and Star was doing the same, understanding what was troubling her mother so much. Heckapoo had been their best chance at finding Rasticore and now it seemed their search had reached yet another complication. "I understand, thank you for your time," Moon said ready to end the meeting right there, standing up from her seat, but it seemed the others weren't ready to leave just yet, all of them remaining seated, much to her surprise._

 _"There is another subject we need to discuss while we are here," one of the other members, Omnitraxus Prime spoke up, the serious expressions he and the others members sharing making Star instantly worried._ Uh oh _, Star thought._

 _"And what is that?" Moon asked, looking quite anxious as well as she took her seat once more._

 _"We have been receiving reports of a Monster attack near the border of the Johannson Kingdom, Your Majesty." Omnitraxus Prime sounded both suspicious and condescending as he spoke, even through the crystal ball he often had to use to communicate to them with, his regular form too big to fit inside small spaces easily. But the disappointed frown on his skull face was as clear as day. Star tried not to openly cringe or shift in her seat, counting this as the third incident of something like this happening in nearly a week. Star was suddenly glad that her father hadn't been allowed in the meeting, his reaction to the news far less... understanding than theirs, unable to hold back his fury over an attack within his homeland._

 _Luckily, her mother had it covered. "Yes, we were already informed about that," Moon replied in the most dignified tone she could, keeping her voice level and calm. Star always wondered how her mom was able to maintain such a regal facade at all times._

 _"And what are you going to do about it?" Heckapoo asked bluntly, looking quite annoyed with the royals, the small flame over her head flickering once, Star knowing from experience that meant she was more angry than she was letting on. She looked over at her mother, able to tell from her face that she had noticed it too._

 _"The Monster has already been placed in custody," Moon replied immediately. "His punishment will be carried out by Buff Frog."_

 _"Ah yes, the infamous Buff Frog," Heckapoo said, the contempt in his voice clear as she tapped her fingers on the table in annoyance and Star had to bite her tongue to keep herself from speaking, feeling a need to stand up for her boyfriend's father. "Tell me, Your Highness, how are planning on dealing with the other Monsters due to this troubling incident?"_

 _Moon opened her mouth to rebuttal, but was interrupted by one of the other members. "I think we should freeze all of them in crystal and be done with it!" Rhombulus, a tall, magical being made out of crystal spoke up from the corner, raising on of his snake hands in the air, knowingly._

 _"No talking in time out!" Heckapoo reprimanded her fellow member and he huffed, making a show of crossing his arms and mumbling under his breath like a child. "Stupid corner. Stupid Heckapoo. I don't have to sit in time out, you have to sit in time out," he grumbled in a whispered tone._

 _The others ignored the powerful beings childish display as Moon replied to the original question proposed. "We have no intention of 'dealing' with any of them," Moon responded._

 _"What?!" Heckapoo shouted in outrage._

 _"But surely you can't honestly still be planning on continuing on with the peace treaties after several of them have violated your agreements," Omnitraxus pointed out._

 _"Actually I fully intend to do just that," Moon replied, taking in the angry and judgmental stares of her fellow members before calmly explaining. "It was a rogue Monster. He was acting on his own and seemed to have no affiliations with the rest of the Monsters. I see no reason to hold the rest of them responsible. The peace treaties will continue as planned."_

Plus, the Monster only attacked because he was being harassed by a couple of Mewmans _, Star thought to herself, but didn't dare say it out loud, knowing it wouldn't do any good. As far as the commission was concerned, the Monster was entirely at fault._

 _"You can't honestly just turn a blind eye to this, can you, Queen Moon?" Omnitraxus asked._

 _"For the betterment of my people I will."_

 _"This is getting ridiculous!" Heckapoo exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table. "This has gone on long enough. The Magic High Commission has already given you plenty of leeway during the war and agreed to stay out of the general affairs of Mewni, since you 'claimed' you could handle things and look how that turned out."_

 _"We are no longer at war," Moon countered, her own voice losing some of its calm._

 _"Oh come on, Moon, this isn't an isolated incident and you know it," Heckapoo shot back, pointing an accusing finger her way. "Just several days ago a Monster assassin was able to infiltrate this very castle and threaten the life of Star!"_

 _Star resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands as all eyes were drawn to her for a long, intense moment, though she was unable to prevent her cheeks from blushing some in embarrassment, wishing she could just dive under the table and hide. She already felt intimidated in the presence of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, spending months building up her reputation as being on somewhat the same level as them, ruling one of the most important magical realms in the galaxy. But now, none of that seemed to matter as she was reduced back down to the same helpless little girl that had been broken by Saint O's, making her feel more weak and useless than she had felt in months._

 _"And we are taking this attack very seriously, as you already know," Moon replied, with barely suppressed anger._

 _"Not seriously enough!" Heckapoo shouted._

 _"These Monsters are a threat to the natural order of things, you can not allow them to grow anymore in power or we risk upsetting the delicate balance of Mewnian magic," Omnitraxus argued._

 _"I still say we crystallize the lot of them!" Rubilax shouted, jumping up and out of his time-out spot and slamming his snake hands down on the table, causing both of them to shout "Ow!"_

 _Star looked between the arguing members with a grimace, slinking a bit in her chair._ This isn't going well, at all _, she thought with a mental sigh, as her mother tried futilely to calm the other member's rants. Star's eyes froze, though, on one member who had been silent during the whole meeting. He was small, about a foot tall, with a blue body covered by a yellow robe that was too small on him in many respects, with a long white beard and a purple crystal indented into his skull. He floated there in mid-air above the meeting table, his diamond shaped eyes bored and emotionless as he snacked on a small jar of pudding that was magically floating next to him, seeming to find more interest in it than in anything the rest of the Commission was saying._

 _She believed his name was Glossaryk, though she had never actually met him before. She wasn't sure what purpose he served in the Commission and frankly she wasn't sure if the other members knew, either. He just seemed to be there for the sake of being there, more out of obligation than actual need, which Star could completely bond with, being in the exact same boat._

 _She was about to try to move closer and talk to him, when the room was filled with a loud bleating, as the final member, a half-goat, half-bat creature known as Lekmet stood up from his seat, his wings opening in a wide flourish, interrupting the rest of his ranting members with the ear-bleeding sound. Everyone stopped and stared at the goat, Heckapoo, Omnitraxus, and Rubilax with guilty looks in their eyes as the goat man looked at each one of them with a disappointed frown._

 _He began giving them a short scolding in his native tongue but somehow, though no one there spoke his language, they were all able to understand him perfectly, as his bleatings were magically translated where they could understand, his messages feeling like they were being implanted directly into Star's brain. He went on for a moment about them not fighting and behaving as the functioning magical beings they were and not just blame everything on Moon. Rubilax looked like he was on the verge of arguing, but a raised paw from Lekmet silenced him instantly. He then went on to say that they were supposed to set an example for the rest of the multiverse by keeping order and peace not just within the dimensions but with each other, as well, and that they at least needed to hear Moon out completely before jumping to conclusions. Once he was done, he sat back down in his seat, his wings folding up as he did, the others refusing to meet his eye, Rubilax even mumbling under his breath sheepishly, "Sorry Lekmet."_

 _Lekmet gestured with his paw to Moon, giving a quick bleat that roughly translated to, "_ Proceed _."_

 _Moon gave the old member a grateful smile, before turning back to address the rest of them. "I assure you I have every intention of protecting the cycle of magic on Mewni and am doing everything in my power to resolve any and all issues retaining to the Monsters," she explained calmly. "But none of them have shown any interest in our magic thus far. They only wish to be seen as equals amongst us. And my hope is that by achieving some sort of compromise we will no longer have to be concerned about the Monsters abusing the cycle of magic in this, or any other, dimension."_

 _The other members were silent for a moment, their faces unreadable and Star held in a breath. "Very well then, Queen Moon," Omnitraxus finally finally spoke up, his voice sounding harsh but fair. "The Magic High Commission will not get involved in the affairs of this world or the actions of the Monsters-"_

 _"For now," Heckapoo added, her voice sounding far less understanding._

 _"What?!" Rubilax whined like a child. "But I thought you guys were going to let me crystallize the Monsters!"_

 _"Rubilax back in the corner!" Heckapoo screamed and Rubilax begrudgingly obeyed._

 _"However," Omnitraxus continued, after the short outburst. "If you cannot breed us proper results in the time frame of no more than six months or the situation in Mewni worsens to even the_ slightest _degree we will have no choice but to intervene."_

 _Star sucked in a breath. Oh no, this was bad. This was no longer a compromise, it was a warning, the subtext of the magical being's message clear: 'Do not fail us again.' The overseer of time left no room for argument, his tone final and sharp, meaning Moon had no choice but to nod and agree. "I understand," she said, keeping her voice regal and composed, though Star could hear the disdain hidden deep in her throat._

 _"Then I guess we have nothing more to discuss," Heckapoo said rising from her seat, the others doing the same, even Star and Moon standing up from their chairs, the princess resisting the urge to stretch to relieve the now tight muscles in her back. "We will continue to monitor the situation and expect regular updates from you as usual," Heckapoo continued, Star catching the hidden meaning in her words. 'We will be watching.'_

 _"Of course," Moon said._

 _With that, the Magic High Commission left, returning to their sacred and highly important tasks throughout the known universe. Heckapoo exited through one of her dimensional portals, while Rubilax and Lekmet left through their own, and Omnitraxus's form simply faded from the crystal ball, leaving it now just a regular glass sphere. The second they were all gone, Moon released a deep sigh, one she sounded like she had been holding in for hours. "Thank goodness that's over with," Moon said, with much relief in her tone._

 _"I can't believe the way they were talking about the Monsters!" Star burst out, now no longer able to hold back her anger any longer._

 _"Star," Moon said in a warning tone._

 _"Well I can't help it! They acted like the Monster are all evil and dangerous. And then they treated us like we were common criminals just for siding with them!"_

 _Star's anger disappeared as quickly as it had come as her mother put her hands on her shoulders and looking down at her with a motherly smile, "I know. And I understand your anger. But getting upset will not help resolve the situation any. A good queen does not allow her emotions to sway her judgment, she handles difficult situations by using her experience and wit."_

 _Star let her mother's words sink in for a moment, knowing she was right. She couldn't remember the last time her mother had given her a lecture of any kind and, though she had always despised them in the past, now she found that she had oddly missed them. Though, she did notice that her mother' attitude seemed to have changed quite a bit. She no longer spoke down to her in a condescending way, telling her she had messed up and why like she used to. Now it felt more like she was merely trying to teach her, to help her continue to grow into the best queen she could. Star wasn't sure if the change was from her mother's newfound respect or her own new appreciation for guidance, knowing first hand of what went into being a ruler. Or perhaps something even stronger than that. It felt like there was now a mutual understanding between mother and daughter, an unspoken feeling that both now shared with one another, one that had certainly had not been there before._

 _She let out a breath to show her mother she was calm, before saying, "So then what's our plan?"_

 _Moon paused for a moment before answering. "For now, we proceed as normal. We have to focus on keeping our citizens calm and making sure things run smoothly."_

 _Star's mouth gaped open unintentionally at this. "Are you serious? We can't just do nothing! You heard what the Commission said."_

 _"Yes I did, Star," Moon said, her tone hardening some. "But this is a very delicate process. The peace we have now is fragile and the situation must be dealt with as such. Otherwise we might be looking at only escalated things until it is too far out of our hands."_

 _"But there has to be something we can do?" Star said desperately, tears of defeat appearing at the corners of her eyes, her mind racing as it tried to frantically create some kind of solution that would magically solve all of their problems. Unfortunately, it seemed that just didn't exist._

 _Moon, seeing the emotional state her daughter was in, pulled her in close for a hug, surprising the young royal, as her mother's arms gently ran up and down her back. "We'll think of something, Star," Moon whispered in a comforting tone. There was that feeling again._

 _Star allowed herself to relax and let all of her barriers down. Normally she would never let her mom see her this way, to expose the parts of herself she kept hidden, only Marco ever got to see that side of her, to see the vulnerability and insecurity she felt. But things had changed. Her relationship to her mom was different now and now Star felt she could trust her mom to see this side of her, almost needing to let her see it. So for just a moment, their titles seemed to disappear, they were not queen and princess, they were just a mother and daughter, her mom simply comforting her in her time of need._

 _When the hug did finally pull away, Moon going back to gripping her softly by the shoulders, she looked deep into her eyes and said in the most confident voice she could, "This isn't over yet, Star. Not by a long shot."_

 _Star just nodded, before saying, "Thanks mom."_

 _Moon smiled, cupping her cheek in her hand for a moment, "You're welcome." Then, Moon rose back to her feet and just like that, her inner queen had returned full force. "Now then, I have more duties I need to attend to and I really need to get going or I will be late. This does conclude the end of your duties for the day, however, so you are free to spend the day however you wish."_

 _Star nodded. "Okay great. Marco will be happy to hear it," she said, some of the joy returning at the mere mention of her boyfriend._

 _"I'm sure he will," Moon said, with a small teasing smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She headed for the door, but stopped, turning back around as if needing to check something. "Are you sure you're alright?"_

 _"I'm fine mom," Star reassured with a roll of her eyes. "Like you said, we'll think of something."  
Moon smiled. "Yes we will." And with that, Moon left, closing the door behind her, causing a loud bang to echo around the small room. For a moment, Star just stood perfectly still in the room, thinking things over, while silently counting the seconds off in her head. As badly as she wanted to run to the door and slam it open in an attempt to free herself from the suffocating space faster, she also didn't want her mom to think anything was wrong, so she knew she needed to wait till she was out of the hallway before leaving. But in the deafening silence of the room, it only seemed to cause her incessant worrying to increase. _

_Though her mom's words were reassuring, she wasn't sure she quite believed them. Right now, they had no plan and were facing a pretty serious situation. If the MHC interfered they could put a wrench in all their hard work and planning. Unrest between the Monsters and Mewmans was growing more and more with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Not to mention the assassin that was now hunting and threatening her. What had they gotten themselves into?_

 _"My things are looking bad for you, aren't they?"_

 _Star jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice that came out of nowhere, nearly screaming in fright, but managed to contain it so it was just a small startled squeak. She whipped around only to see Glossaryk, still hovering in the same place he had been, licking chocolate off his spoon, while staring at her with blank, rectangular eyes. Star couldn't believe how stupid she had been, they had been so troubled by the news that they hadn't even noticed that one member, whose presence had virtually gone unknown, hadn't actually left._

 _"I- You- How much of that did you see?" Star asked flustered as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment._

 _"Oh I see everything," Glossaryk replied mysteriously and Star raised an eyebrow._

 _"Okkkkaaay," Star said, crossing her arms awkwardly in front of her._

 _"And if you're worried about me telling the Commission about your little breakdown a moment ago, don't be, I'm retired, I don't really have to get involved in anything if I don't want to and I make it a point to avoid them at all costs," Glossaryk said._

 _Star giggled at that. "So, you're not really a member?" the blond asked._

 _"No, but neither are you and yet here we are," Glossaryk pointed out, waving his dirty spoon around the room for emphasis._

 _"Good point," Star replied._

 _"So what are you planning on doing, princess?" Glossaryk suddenly said, before taking another spoonful of pudding._

 _"About what?" Star asked in confusion._

 _"About the Monsters. Surely you are planning on doing something to help control them."_

 _"I thought you said you don't get involved," Star pointed out, suspiciously._

 _"No, I said I don't have to get involved if I don't want to," Glossaryk corrected her, as he dug his spoon deep into the small pudding cup hovering next to him._

 _"Then why do you want to?" Star tried._

 _"I have my reasons," was the only response the magical being gave._

 _Finally, Star realizing she would receive no other answer, shrugged before confessing, "I haven't really come up with anything yet." Without realizing it, she found herself talking to the small, blue man, pouring out all the worries that had been plaguing her mind lately. "All I can think to do is to try and work with Buff Frog but I'm not sure how much good that will do. There are just too many Monsters for him to keep track of them all. And both Monsters and Mewmans are still filled with so much hate, it seems impossible to get them to trust each other at all. To be honest I'm not sure what to do."_

 _"Then it seems to me that having the Magic High Commission overseeing things wouldn't be the worse thing in the world," Glossaryk casually said, before licking the small drops of pudding still on his spoon off._

 _Star felt her temper flare up at the comment, saying in a near shout, "No that would be terrible! The Commission would only make things worse! They'd strip away the Monster's rights in a heartbeat and then everything would just go back to being awful again for everyone!"_

 _Glossaryk didn't even acknowledge Star had spoken, instead, simply choosing to closely examine the spoon he held, taking his time as he meticulously searched for any spots he had missed. Star huffed in frustration at the tiny blue being choosing to ignore her. "You're right, maybe not the Commission then," Glossaryk finally said. "Still, it would be good if someone was keeping an eye out for trouble. It's too bad there aren't more people like you out there, spreading peace. Otherwise, you wouldn't have anything to worry about, now would you?"_

 _This statement surprised Star and she opened her mouth to respond, but was stopped as suddenly, Glossaryk said, "Well it would seem I'm out of pudding." He looked at the now empty cup with disappointment, the first real show of any emotion outside of boredom since arriving. "Well I must be off then, princess. I need to refill my pudding supply as quickly as possible and I'm afraid the Earth dealer I usually get my supply from will be leaving soon."_

 _"Why don't you just use magic to make more pudding?" Star asked skeptically._

 _Glossaryk sighed. "True pudding cannot be replicated, princess," he said, as if the answer should be obvious. "Never underestimate the power it holds."_

 _With that the crystal in Glossaryk's forehead began to glow with a bright light, the small old man humming to himself as the magical energy began to grow, his voice growing louder and louder with each second. Until finally he was gone, vanishing in flash of blinding light, Star shielding her eyes from the beam. Once he was gone, Star just said to herself, in utter confusion of the strange, blue being, "What the heck does that mean?"_

 _Not receiving an answer from the empty room, Star simply shrugged, trying to dismiss the man's odd behavior, before turning and walking to the door, happy to finally have some sweet relief from the cramped and confining space. Though, a nagging thought at the back of her mind seemed to be telling her she was forgetting something._

…

Star let out another deep sigh as the memory faded away slightly, worries overtaking her instead. So that was the situation at hand, she had to find a way to fix an unknown number of years of oppression and unrest in just six months. But really she needed a solution now. They were one Monster attack away from squandering all the work Star, Marco, and her parents had put in. And she couldn't let that happen, she had grown to care for many of the Monsters seeing them as more than evil beings, thanks to Marco. If the worst were to happen, then it would be on Star. She was their ruler and any mistreatment they received fell on her and her alone.

Star thought back over the story of the Diaz's, Star didn't know how Marco's parents had kept faith despite how impossible the odds had seemed, it was quite admirable. Star wished she could have met them, they seemed so nice and kind, now she knew where Marco got it from.

Marco. He would be crushed if his family was forced back into oppression. He would feel like a failure and, knowing him, would no doubt blame himself for his adopted family's inhumane condition. She couldn't bare to see Marco heartbroken, her throat tightening at the mere thought of it.

And with those thoughts in mind, a new determination rose within her, burning like a fire in her soul. She had to succeed. She wouldn't allow failure. She just needed to think...

And so Star did just that, thinking and contemplating over what could be done to fix the impossibly big problem they were being faced with. But her tired mind was making it impossible, her thoughts easily drifting in her sleep-deprived state. For some reason they kept going back to her conversation with Glossaryk and she began to wonder if her mind was trying to tell her something. Did her brain know something she didn't? Something she had unconsciously already figured out but just had yet to realize?

The blond royal frowned deeply, as she recalled the conversation again, going over every word carefully. The tiny blue man was weird no doubt, but what he said wasn't wrong. Well, okay, most of what he said wasn't wrong. Some of it was just crazy nonsense (Star still didn't get that thing about pudding) but some of it had a layer of truth to it. The Magic High Commission had successfully overseen every dimension in the universe and for the most part kept order in an otherwise chaotic galaxy. They represented peace and power, a show of strength and a warning to any who turned against them. There methods were intense sure, but effective. Still, Star knew they were not the right thing for Mewni.

Star thought for another moment, the spark of an idea forming in her head. But maybe, there were others who were. Suddenly, Star was on her feet again, pacing back and forth around her room, muttering to herself under her breath, her weariness all but forgotten. Her mind was alive and buzzing with inspiration once more, her heart pounding excitedly in her chest, as a plan began to take shape in her mind. And as the hours stretched long, the young blond princess continued to work out every detail of her master plan, thinking over everything she would need to make this work and she began to feel giddy as she realized that this could actually work, she might be able to save Mewni from itself.

…

Morning came and with it came a new day of possibilities and promise. Marco woke slowly, curling up tightly under his warm blankets, as he muttered incoherently in his sleep. "Don' wan' more nachooss..." he grumbled, before rolling over. He slowly began to blink open his eyes, taking in his softly lit room through his blurry vision. He yawned and sat up, his tight muscles cracking and popping at the effort. He took a moment to stretch, finally relaxing his tense body, before letting out another yawn, rubbing absentmindedly at his eye.

It seemed the previous days events were all but forgotten to the Mewman boy, as he, now much more awake and alert, pulled back his covers and rose from his bed, a happy smile gracing his lips. He went to his window and threw it open, basking in the sunlight and cool breeze on his face with a content sigh. Finally he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Good morning, Mewni!"

He leaned a bit more out the window, looking beside him, calling, "Good morning, StarFan13!" The strange girl who was currently standing perilously on one of the ledges with a pair of binoculars, called back, "Good morning, Marco!"

He then quickly zipped over to his closet pulling down one of his many red hoodies. "Good morning, hoodie!" he said cheerfully, before hugging the article of clothing to his chest. "I love you so much!" He quickly slipped his signature hood over his head, letting it fall down, before easily slipping his arms through, not even bothering to unzip it.

In a matter of seconds, Marco was out of his room and already racing down the hallway, doing his best to avoid crashing into any of the castle servants hard at work that fine morning. He was feeling much better today and after a good night's rest and some time to think he felt less like, well, his heart was literally shattering into pieces. His throat still felt tight whenever he thought of his parents and he could still feel a slight tugging at his heart, an ache that lingered from the day before and a constant reminder of his loss, but he refused to let those things hold him back. He didn't have time to feel depressed and mope around. There was now work to be done. He had sworn he would find a way to bring permanent peace to Mewni and he was going to do it. So with his hopes held high and eager to meet up with his beautiful blond bestie, Marco ran through the castle with reckless disregard for anything else, feeling a new sense of pride and purpose with every step.

But this backfired, it seemed, as Marco's triumphant race through the castle was cut short as he collided head first with someone, causing him to release a startled scream. All uplifting thoughts were forgotten as Marco bounced off the body and began falling hard and fast to the ground. The teen had no way to stop himself and so just closed his eyes, as he waited for his head and the tiled floor to painfully meet... again.

And yet, somehow Marco never hit the floor, something latching onto his arm and holding him suspended there in mid-air. "You really need to be more careful, dork," came a familiar voice from above. Marco threw open his eyes, finding himself staring into the judgmental and somewhat amused face of Mewni's youngest knight.

"Higgs!" Marco shouted in joy and relief. Higgs said nothing as she just pulled him back up to his feet with an easy and fluid motion.

"So is this how you always say hello to people or are you just the hopeless klutz I've been hearing about?" she asked, her tone more teasing than critical.

Marco ignored the comment, instead chuckling awkwardly and rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized quickly. "Guess I was in too much of a hurry. Nice catch though," he added, quite impressed with the redhead's ability to not only keep her balance but also react quick enough to stop him from falling himself.

Higgs shrugged, saying in a boastful manner, "Eh, that was nothing for the youngest knight in Mewni's history." Marco held back a chuckle. The girl did have a tendency to work that into conversations way too often. "So how did things go yesterday?" Higgs asked, as the two started down the hall together. "Did you find out about your parents?"

Marco's smile faltered some. "Yeah... I did," he said softly. The young knight got the sense that the boy didn't want to talk about it and quickly cleared her throat, changing the subject to a bit less touchy subject. "So you up for training today? I've got some free time right now if your interested."

Marco's smile returned full force, before he remembered his mission. "Oh well thanks for the offer, but I've kinda got plans for today," he declined, giving the redhead a sheepish smile.

Higgs however didn't seem to accept the look. "What, you chickening out already?" she asked, her voice semi-critical.

Marco cringed, before shaking his head. "No, it's not that, I just-"

"Hey lighten up, I'm only messing with you," Higgs said, now sounding much more lighthearted. She gave him a friendly little punch in the arm that Marco did his best to hide the pain that surged up from it, still quite sore from being her punching bag the day before. "We'll just do it another day, no big deal," she reassured him.

"Okay," Marco said gratefully.

The young knight then quickly picked up her pace, now practically jogging down the hallway and leaving the hooded boy in the dust. She did turn to look at the boy over her shoulder, though, the smirk obvious on her face as she shouted to him, "But we better not wait too long. After all, I'm looking forward to whipping those weak muscles of yours into a decent shape."

Marco came to a stop as the fast-moving girl disappeared down the hallway. The hooded boy frowned and felt of his arm, pinching the appendage lightly, wondering out loud, "What's wrong with my muscles?"

"Nothing I think you're perfect exactly as you are." Marco swerved on his heels, a wide smile on his face, as he saw none other than Star standing behind him.

"Hey Star!" he greeted loudly, tackling her with a hug, causing the blond royal to giggle as she squeezed him affectionately back. Star could tell Marco was doing much better today than he was yesterday, his cheeriness returning to much more normal levels. And she was glad for that, not wanting Marco to sit around suffering from depression like she was afraid he would be.

Once the two pulled away, Marco noticed Star's smile was brighter than usual and her sky blue eyes were shining with eagerness, prompting him to ask, "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"What? How did you know I was gonna tell you something?" Star asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy for his ability to easily guess.

Marco shrugged. "You just seemed like there's something on your mind, is all," Marco observed simply.

Star just smiled and shook her head. Marco really was too amazing sometimes. "Well, you were right. I have big news!"

"Really? What is it?!" Marco asked excitedly.

"Uh uh, not telling yet," Star said, giving him a playful wink.

"Aww, why not?" Marco whined, his impatience getting the better of him.

"Because I'm going to wait and tell Jackie and Janna, too," Star explained. "Now come on they're waiting for us in my room!"

The two began walking side by side on the way to the princess's bedroom, Marco continuing to pester his girlfriend for answers, while Star just did her best to hide her smile at the boy's antics.

"Well, can you at least tell me what it's about?"

"Nope."

"Aww, come on Star, that's not fair."

"Hey, it's not my fault you saw through me so easily. I wasn't going to bring it up until we were already met up with Jackie and Janna."

Marco pouted, puffing up his cheeks, huffily. Star smiled, able to tell that he was faking, before leaning over and kissing his cheek, causing the hooded boy's frown to instantly switch to a wide grin, his face lightly flushing. The teen giggled a little before taking his girlfriend's hand in his. Star shook her head at the boy telling him in a teasing tone, "You know, if you really wanted a kiss, you could have just asked."

…

Jackie and Janna sat on Star's floor, waiting for the princess to return with Marco. They had been caught off guard when the princess had ambushed them, going on about needing to tell them something, before shoving them into her room and disappearing, the two teens just shrugging to one another in response. Since then, the two girls had just sat and ate their breakfast that Star had had brought up to her room.

"So what do you think Star wants to talk to us about?" Jackie asked her creepy friend at one point.

Janna, who was looking more at her phone than actually eating, replied, "No idea, but whatever it was it must be pretty important."

"Do you think it has to do with that Rasticore guy?" Jackie inquired nervously.

"Nah, I'm putting my money on it having something to do with Marco," Janna replied, before taking a mouthful of food without looking away from her phone.

"Like what exactly?" Jackie asked.

Janna swallowed down the bite before replying, "I dunno, maybe they're getting married."

Jackie's eyes narrowed at the remark. "Jan, they've only been on one date so far."

Janna shrugged. "Eh, you never know with those two."

Jackie rolled her eyes, before remarking, "Right, well I still think it has something to do with Monsters."

Just then the door flew open, Star shouting, "I'm back!"

"Hey, Star!" Jackie greeted her friend with her signature coolness.

"Sup Marco!" Janna said at the same time.

"Hey guys," Marco greeted cheerfully, before his eyes landed on the extra tray of food sitting next to Jackie. The hooded boy gasped loudly as he asked in wonder, "Is that my food?"

"Yep, sure is," Jackie said and in the next second, Marco was beside her already digging in to his delicious breakfast.

"Oh my gosh, this food is so good, Star you've got to try some!" Marco exclaimed between mouthfuls.

"Maybe later," Star said, even though she hadn't eaten yet, her excitement too great to even think about eating.

"Well you've at least gotta taste this pie, it's delicious!" Marco continued as he wolfed down his food, moaning in delight after every bite.

"Should be, the pie folk make the best pies ever," Janna said, taking a bite of her own dessert. "Sure you don't want to try a bite, Star?"

"I'm good," Star politely declined.

"Your loss," Janna said with a shrug.

"Maybe we should go visit the pie folk one of these days," Marco said thoughtfully.

"Not a good idea," Janna argued simply, Marco giving her a questioning look. The creepy girl then explained, "As good as their pies are their also a bunch of liars and thieves, they'd rob an easy mark like you blind in no time."

"That's horrible," Marco gasped in shock, unable to believe someone who made such delicious food could be so crooked.

"Ya know, Janna, if we didn't know you were an Impure, I'd swear you were a pie folk," Star commented.

Janna nodded her head in agreement, saying, "That's fair."

After that, everyone went silent, the three teens just enjoying their food while their royal friend patiently (impatiently) awaited them to finish. Once they were nearly done, Jackie spoke up, asking, "So anyways, Star, what did you want to tell us?"

A bright, infectious smile instantly lit up Star's face, as she clapped her hands together once, loudly stating, "I know how to solve the problem between the Monsters and Mewmans!"

Of all the things the three had thought she was going to say, this didn't seem to be what they were expecting, as they all instantly went into shock by the loud declaration. Janna nearly chocked on her pie, coughing as she tried to clear her tight airways, Jackie's normally calm persona changed to one of disbelief, her mouth dropping open and her body freezing up, leaving her to awkwardly hold her fork, still with a bite of pie on it, hovering in mid-air, while Marco just gaped at her, his eyes widening to cartoonish levels, with a look of hopeful optimism.

"Really?!" he exclaimed, leaning closer to his girlfriend. "How?"

"Well, I'm going to make my own commission," Star quickly explained.

The three shared a look at that. "A commission?" Marco repeated in confusion.

"Like the Magical High Commission?" Jackie supplied.

"What's that?" Marco asked.

"They're this group of magical being that oversee all the dimensions in Mewni," Jackie explained quickly to the hooded boy.

"Uhh, how is that going to help exactly?" Janna asked bluntly.

Star didn't seem at all troubled by her friend's doubt as she said confidently, "Okay I get you guys are confused, but trust me I've been thinking on this all night and I know this is gonna work. The Magic High Commission has been watching over every dimension in the galaxy with success for a millennium."

"Yeah, but no offense, Star, I don't think more of a bunch of stuck-up know-it-alls are gonna fix the unrest in Mewni," Janna said, crossing her arms.

"Which is why it won't be a bunch of know-it-alls," Star argued. "I'm gonna choose each member myself and each one will represent a different part of Mewni and its allies as a show of good faith. And our task will simply be keeping peace in Mewni and resolving any conflict that come in the way, without violence hopefully. That way the Mewmans will see that we are still protecting them from Monster attacks but the Monsters won't think that we're simply turning a blind eye to their problems, either."

Once Star finished speaking, she went completely silent, taking a moment to let all of that sink in, looking between each of her friends hopefully. Marco looked overjoyed at the idea and was clearly instantly on board as Star suspected. Jackie and Janna, however, were just silently contemplating it, with no emotion on either of their faces. Star couldn't help but feel her heart pound a bit in worry. Had she been too rash? Was this a terrible idea after all? She had been so sure earlier but now...

"Wow, you've certaintly been thinking on this a lot," Jackie said, her tone unreadable.

Star simply nodded. "So, what do you think?" Star prodded her friends, biting at her lip.

"I think it's a great idea, Star!" Marco shouted instantly, giving her a wide encouraging smile and Star couldn't help but feel a bit eased. She was lucky to have such a supportive boyfriend like Marco.

"Thanks, Marco," she said, leaning closer and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, the boy's face turning bright red. She leaned back, her face becoming suddenly serious as she asked Jackie and Janna, "So what about you guys, do you think it will work?"

Finally, Jackie said, "Yeah, I think it will, actually."

Janna nodded. "It's definitely got potential," the half-Monster girl agreed.

Star felt hope rise in her chest as she let out the breath she had unknowingly been holding in. "You have no idea how big a relief that is hearing you say that," the blond royal admitted, putting a hand over her pounding heart. Good so they were on board with the idea. Now came the important part. Star paused for a second, wanting to find the right way to phrase this. Her voice grew softer, as she played with a curl in her hair. "Because I was actually kinda hoping you guys would be on the commission with me." She gave them all a wide, pleading smile, but wasn't surprised to find that all of them had frozen in complete shock.

"Us?" Janna said, looking dumbfounded. "You want us to be on the commission?"

"But, we're not even royalty," Marco pointed out, self-consciously rubbing his arm.

"No, but you are all my best friends and I trust your judgment completely," Star said sweetly.

The teens faces all seemed to soften at that, even Janna's, though they still remained silent. "Sooo should I take your silence as a yes, then?" she asked, trying to prod them into answering.

"Of course it is," Jackie said.

"We're always up for helping you out, Star, with whatever you need," Marco added.

"Well, actually," Janna said apologetically, causing the others to face her with questioning looks. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I don't think me being on a peace brigade is exactly my style. I think I'd rather sit this one out, if that's all right."

Star nodded in understanding, trying not to let her disappointment show. "Yeah, that's fine," she said, unable to quite keep the sadness out of her voice.

"Trust me it's for the best," Janna added, sensing the girl's somberness. "I'm the last person you'd want trying to fix Mewni."

"That's true," Jackie agreed, as horrible scenario after horrible scenario played in her head. "Putting Janna in a position of power is just asking for things to go wrong."

Star's eyes widened in fear. "Oh my gosh I hadn't even thought of that," she whispered nervously, as an image of Mewni burning to the ground flashed through her mind. She quickly shook her head free of the disturbing thoughts, needing to go back to the matter at hand, as she turned to Jackie and Marco. "Well then, in that case, you two will be my first members of the newly formed, umm-" Star's mind was now drawing a blank, as she realized she hadn't given the group a name. She rubbed at her chin trying to think of a good name. Finally, she decided to just go with something simple and easy to remember, saying proudly and confidently, "The Mewnian-Monster Peace Commission or MMPC."

"Nice," Jackie said, approvingly, while Janna just shrugged.

"Eh, it could use some tweaking," the beanie-wearing girl commented.

Star ignored that, keeping herself focused on the next step. She went over to her desk and retrieved her wand. Now that they were on board it was time to make it official, she told herself. She walked back over to the two, keeping her head held high, both just watching her now with confusion etched into their features. She cleared her throat before holding her wand out in front of her, the magical device glowing a soft white. "Please kneel," she said, her voice holding all of the regality of that of a seasoned queen and both teens instantly obeyed, dropping to their knees and bowing their heads to their future ruler.

Janna just watched all of this with a raised eyebrow, commenting, "Geez, what are you knighting them now?"

Jackie quickly shushed her, before lowering her head submissively once again.

Star went over to the skater girl first, saying, "Jackie Lynn Thomas, since I've met you I've always known you to be level-headed and honest. You are quick to solve any problem by using your wit and always remain calm in the face of danger. And most importantly you believe in fairness and equality in Mewni. And so it is for all of these things that I now hereby deem you-" Star tapped her wand on both of Jackie's shoulders. "-representative of Earth. Do you accept your position?"

"Absolutely," Jackie said, sounding quite humbled, raising her head up a bit so she could smile at Star. The princess returned this gesture before moving over to Marco.

"Marco Diaz," she started, keeping her tone strong and sure. "I can't think of anyone more worthy of this job than you. Not only has your family been fighting for equality for years..." a sad smile crossed Marco's face at that and Star gave him an apologetic look knowing that was still a touchy subject for him. "... but without you we wouldn't even be here right now." Star's voice shook a little, as she held back the well of emotion rising up inside her. "You helped to open my eyes and show me that Monsters are capable of good and I know that you will do a great job at showing others the same. You are kind and understanding and always determined to do what's right. So, with the power vested in me as the Princess of Mewni I now hereby deem you-" Star tapped Marco's shoulders, one at a time with the wand. "-representative of Monsters."

Marco's eyes widened at that and he raised his head a little to give the blond royal a questioning look. "You want me to represent the Monsters?" Marco asked in shock. "But shouldn't you have a Monster do that?"

Star leaned down so she was closer to Marco as she explained to him, "No, that won't work. The Mewmans still aren't ready to see an actual Monster on the commission. But if we put you in this position instead, you can still fairly fight for Monster's rights without upsetting anyone." Star gently placed a hand on his shoulder with her free hand before continuing, her voice losing its commanding tone as she told him truthfully, "I'm not gonna lie, Marco. This job is kind of a big deal. You are the key to making this all work. Without you, this commission is pretty much pointless. So," Star took in a deep breath, her voice returning to its regal infliction. " Do you still accept this important position?"

Marco swallowed hard, but Star could see the fire in his eyes, an unwavering resolve hidden just behind his chocolate brown orbs. The hooded boy nodded and said confidently, "I do."

Star smiled down at him, her heart swelling with pride, as she gushed out, "I knew you would," giving him a tiny kiss on his nose.

Both Jackie and Marco rose back up to their feet and Star said in excitement, "Well, congratulations you two are now the only acting members of the MMPC! Yay!" She did a little jazz hand wave at them, causing Jackie to laugh.

"This is so amazing!" Marco yelled, equally pumped up at their accomplishment, practically leaping around the room in giddy delight. "I'm the first representative of Monsters ever! Wait till Buff Frog hears this, oh my gosh, this is so perfect! Now I can finally start living up to my Diaz name!"

The three girls watched the boy as he continued his energetic celebration, before Janna spoke up, saying, "Well you seems like your back to your old self."

This caused Marco to come to a stop, turning to the creepy girl, wide-eyed. His smile faltered just a bit as he explained, "Not completely. I'm still kinda processing everything, y'know."

"That's understandable," Jackie said comfortingly.

"But I'm doing better," Marco quickly reassured them, before they could give him any sorrowful stares. "And this is actually great because now, after just finding out about them, I'm actually getting the chance to carry on in their place!"

Star studied her friend closely, making sure he was really telling the truth. Though he seemed okay, she didn't want him to be silently suffering, but he did seem back to normal, his energy and infectious joy returned full force despite everything. Jackie and Janna seemed to have realized this as well, because their smiles returned as well, Jackie saying, "Glad to hear it, Marco."

The other two nodded, glad that their normally vibrant friend was no longer acting so depressed, all of them hating to see him so hurt.

"So then, Star, what's the next step to your brilliant plan?" Janna asked, changing the subject, deciding it better not to dwell on the sensitive topic, which Marco looked grateful for.

Star rubbed awkwardly at her arm, wishing that Janna hadn't brought that up. "Wellllll..."

…

There was a soft knock on the door to Moon's office, before the door opened an inch and a familiar blond head popped in. "Mom?" Star said, her blue eyes searching the room for her mother, spotting her sitting at her desk, surrounded by piles upon piles of paperwork. Star found herself once again grateful that she no longer had to deal with the tedious task. There were a few things she missed about no longer being the acting ruler but the constant writer's cramp was definitely not one of them.

"Yes, come in, Star," Moon said, not even looking up from the scroll she was reading and Star obeyed, entering the room and closing the door behind her.

"So I wanted to talk to you about something," Star started as she shuffled closer, wanting to get right to the point.

"Yes, my dear, what did you want to tell us?" came the voice of not her mom, but her dad, as he suddenly appeared from behind one of the stacks of papers, the pile hiding the short king completely from view.

"Dad?!" Star shouted in surprise, jumping a bit. "I-I didn't see you there," she said, trying to recover from her shock.

"Oh that's because I was working on my stealth," River explained to his daughter, an unstoppable vigor in his tone and attitude. Moon just ignored her husband's childish ways, a concentrated frown on her face as she examined the document in front of her closely. "You never know when you might need to disappear."

"Riggghhht," Star said, knowing there was no point in questioning her father's logic. "So, uh, anyways, as I was saying I think I might have an idea to help solve our little..." Star's voice lowered as she whispered to her two parents, "Commission problem."

Moon finally looked up from her work, a stern look on her face. "Star, we talked about this," Moon began in a warning tone.

"I know, I know, but just hear me out," Star begged. "I've thought very rationally about this and I promise that it's very delicate."

Moon seemed to be thinking it over, her face scrunched up and her hands folded in front of her face. River decided to try and appeal to his wife, going over to his daughter and putting an arm around her waist, before saying in the most convincing tone he could, "Come on, Moonpie. I'm sure whatever Star has hatched up is a great plan!"

Moon sighed, knowing she was outnumbered, finally agreeing, "Very well then, Star. Let's hear it." She folded the scroll up and set it to the side, giving her full and undivided attention to her daughter.

Star smiled gratefully to the both of them for various reasons: one for her dad taking her side and two for her mom being willing to hear her out.

She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before beginning. She told them everything, giving them the full and complete detail of her plan to form the commission, leaving nothing out, even telling them who all she had in mind to be on the commission with her and that Jackie and Marco had already agreed to the position. Once she finished, she took a moment to catch her breath, so eager to get everything out so fast she had nearly hyperventilated herself. Her parents both looked at her blankly, sharing a look between one another, Star unable to tell the meaning behind the exchange.

She felt her confidence crumble as she awaited their answer, much like it had with Jackie and Janna, but this time was much worse, as she constantly strives for her parent's approval and the fear of not getting it made her feel self-conscious and doubtful. "Look I know you probably think it's childish," Star blurted out, unable to hold herself back any longer. "But I-"

"Actually," Moon interrupted, looking into her daughter's puzzled eyes. "I think it's quite good, Star."

"Really?" Star said, her heart filling with pride.

Her mother nodded, smiling encouragingly at her daughter. "Really."

Star breathed a sigh of relief. "And you think the commission will be on board?" she asked, with a questioning look. It was the only part of her plan she was unsure of, not sure how the dead-set-in-their-ways-and-almost-never-open-for-change Magic High Commission would take the news.

Before Moon could answer, River quickly burst out, "Why they have to accept it?! Only an idiot wouldn't be able to see how beneficial this will be for Mewni!"

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," Moon muttered, disapproving of her husband's brash declaration. But her tone was much stronger as she said, "However, I see no reason the commission would reject this idea." Moon's tone hardened some, as she added, "Though they will most likely have a few conditions in mind."

Star rolled her eyes at that but, staying positive, replied, "Then we'll find a way to make it work with them."

Moon gave a sharp nod, though she looked to Star like she had something else on her mind. Star waited for her to voice this concern, but it seemed her mom was having second thoughts on bringing whatever it was up. Finally, she must have pushed past whatever objection her mind had, as she pointed out, "You do know, Star, that if you go through with this that this will be quite time consuming. You won't have as much time to relax and just be a normal teenager. It probably won't be that different than when you were acting ruler. Are you still sure you want to go through with this?"

Her mother studied her intensely for any signs in Star's form faltering and so the blond royal made sure to keep her eyes level with her mother's and remained tensed and still, not allowing her body to shift in the slightest degree, afraid to show any weakness in her resolve. Though there was a part of her that would probably miss not having as many duties and responsibilities to deal with, she knew this was the right choice, happy to sacrifice the life of a normal teen in order to set her beloved Mewni on the right path. Beside, she was a magical wand-wielding princess who was destined to inherit one of the most enchanted dimensions in the galaxy, being a normal teen was pretty much out of the question.

So Star made sure to answer in the most royal and dignified voice she could muster, "Yes. I'm prepared to do whatever is necessary for the sake of my people."

Moon's face softened at her daughter's words, cupping a cheek in her hand, her tone soft and motherly, as she replied teary-eyed, "I'm so proud of you, Star. I hope you know that."

Star put a hand over her mother's and gave it a small squeeze, replying, "I know, mom."

"This is a very grown up thing to do," Moon added, proudly.

"Yes, it is," River agreed, crying louldy as tears streaming down his face. He pulled his daughter into a suffocating hug, adding, "Why before we know it your gonna be an adult and ruling the kingdom all by yourself."

"Uh, dad, I already ruled the kingdom by myself," Star remind him and that only seemed to cause him to cry more.

"Oh my little girl is growing up too fast," he sobbed.

Star blushed slightly, but finally returned the hug, reassuring him, "Don't worry, no matter how old I get, I'll always be your little girl, dad."

Finally, her father broke the crushing hug, sniffing as he got a hold of himself once again. Star turned to her mom and asked, "So we should probably tell the MHC before we do anything else. Make sure they approve of this and everything."

"Leave that to us," Moon responded. "You just focus on getting all your members together, after all just Jackie and Marco aren't going to be enough."

Star nodded, entrusting the difficult task of convincing the Magic High Commission to her more than capable parents. To be honest, it was quite a relief to her, she hadn't really been thrilled at the idea of trying to handle that job by herself, feeling intimidated at the mere thought of being in the presence of the magical beings. "Okay, then I'll let you two get back to whatever you were doing," she agreed, walking to the door, still wanting to go over some things with Jackie and Marco.

Her parents didn't object to this, watching as the girl exited out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving the two to peace and paperwork once again. Moon, however, rose from her seat, ignoring the pressing work as she messaged her temple with her fingertips, her face set in a deep frown as she wandered aimlessly around the room. River didn't react to this, used to seeing his wife let her guard down and show all the stress she was feeling when they were alone. He did however, tell her, reassuringly, "Relax, my love, Star can handle it."

Moon didn't seem so convinced, though, arguing, "It's an awfully big task, River. And she's been through so much recently. I'm just afraid that she's pushing herself too hard for our sake." Moon released a tired sigh, before adding, worriedly, "Have we put too much pressure on her? Would she still wish to do this if I hadn't-"

"Moon," River interrupted her and his beloved wife looked at him with deeply troubled eyes. "You can't continue to blame yourself for what happened. Star has moved past it and so should you. She is a very mature girl, she wouldn't have offered to do this unless she wanted to. We just need to trust when she says she's making the right choice." the short king said calmly.

Moon let out a long breath, feeling her body relax. "You are right, River. Thank you," the queen said gratefully. "Star can handle herself. I feel a little silly for worrying so," she confessed.

River put an arm around his wife, pulling her in close to him as he replied with a hearty laugh. "Ha, not to worry, Moonpie. Everyone is allowed to act a little silly from time to time, even a queen. I mean just look at me, I do and say stupid things all the time."

Moon smiled at that, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I'm well aware," she said almost playfully. Then, she leaned down and kissed her beloved husband on the cheek as a way of thanking him. That was just what she had needed, not that she was surprised he had known exactly what to say to calm her down. Even through her husband's many faults, she was continually reminded why she had fallen in love with him. He understood her in ways no one else did and was always a comfort and a pleasure to have around. Even after all these years, she still couldn't imagine a better man to rule by her side.

…

"Can you hear anything?"

"Shh, quiet they might hear you."

"You two both need to shut up so _I_ can hear."

The trio of teens stood impatiently around the door to Queen Moon's office, Janna with a glass pressed against its frame and leaning an ear against that, trying to hear the occupants within, a trick she had picked up who knows where. They spoke in whispers, trying their hardest not to alert anyone else of their presence, as they were fairly sure they would get in some form of trouble for spying on the Queen of Mewni, but they were all too curious to wait and hear from Star and choose to risk the possibility of punishment.

Janna sent the two a warning glare, before focusing back on her task, trying her hardest to pick out the conversation from the muted voices inside, but it was very difficult to do with a certain hooded boy breathing down her neck. Though she after a few seconds she was able to begin to distinguish between the two, no three, voices inside, identifying them as Star, her mom... King River it seemed. "I can hear them talking," Janna said triumphantly.

Marco from beside her let out an excited squeal, immediately bombarding her with questions in a voice that just barely identify as a whisper, his impatience refusing to allow her a second of peace to work. "What are they talking about?" he asked. "Has Star asked her yet? Does Moon seem happy? Is she mad? Is Star trying to convince her..."

"Wait a second," Janna muttered, her eyes narrowing in concentration. Marco did go quiet then, even putting a hand over his mouth, his body shaking in anticipation.

Janna smiled a moment later, saying to them, "She thinks it's a good idea!"

"Yea-mmph!" Marco started to scream, but was halted by Jackie as she clamped a hand over his mouth, stifling his cry of victory. "Shh," Janna and Jackie both hissed as one. The skater pulled her hand away a second later and Marco gave the two a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, got too excited," he apologized.

Jackie gave him a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder to let him know that he was forgiven, before turning back to her roommate and asking in a whisper, "What are they talking about now, Janna?"

Janna pressed her ear against the make-shift listening device, relaying to them, "It's quiet right now... oh wait. Moon is telling Star that it's a big responsibility and that she won't be able to be a normal teen anymore if she takes it."

"Well, what's Star saying?" Marco asked, suddenly worried. What if Moon talked Star out of it?

"Star said she's prepared to do whatever's necessary for her people," Janna replied, before scoffing. "Jeez Star, cheesy much."

"And what about Moon? What's she saying now?" Jackie asked, her own impatience beginning to get the best of her, as she leaned in closer to the creepy girl.

Janna huffed in annoyance. "Hang on guys. Neither of you are making this easy, y'know," she said sharply. "Your just lucky I'm a professional. I'd like to see you try and do this with two people breathing down your neck the whole time, it's very distracting."

Jackie rolled her eyes, before replying, "Just listen, Jan. Before you miss something."

"Well if I did it would be your fault, _Jacquelyn_ ," Janna taunted, a smirk on her face, knowing how annoyed her friend got when someone used her full name. And her reward was instant, as Jackie's cheeks flushed with anger, her eyes narrowing to literal daggers.

"Don't even go there," Jackie said in warning, her voice shaking with mirth.

Janna just smiled openly as she went back to her work, pleased at being able to win the argument, feeling Jackie's cold glare on her as she began picking up the pieces of their conversation again.

Marco suddenly spoke up, scratching at his head while asking in complete and total confusion, "Whose Jacquelyn?"

"I am," Jackie responded, sending her smirking roommate another glare.

"But I thought your name was Jackie?" Marco said, still looking lost.

"It is. But it's short for Jacquelyn."

Marco nodded in understatement, finally grasping the confusing concept. "Ohhhh," he said.

"Quiet," Janna snapped. She went back to listening in, now relaying to them what she heard, as she picked up their voices again. "Okay so right now their... hugging I think. Star's dad is crying and Star just said something cheesy again... Okay wait, Moon's saying... something... Oh no, guys, Star's coming!"

The three panicked, as they all quickly backed away from the door, making sure they were out of the Queen's possible line of vision. Janna ditched her cup into a nearby plant that decorated the hallway, before leaning against the wall casually. Jackie leaned against the wall opposite as well, looking as relaxed and at ease at once, no evidence of her crime at all visible on her face. Marco on the other hand looked completely incriminating, as he tried to instead hide behind one of the plants, his slim body visible easily and his bright red hood doing nothing to hide him in the slightest.

Star opened the door and stepped out of the room, before gently closing it shut. She then collapsed against the frame, letting out a deep breath. "Oh hey, Star," Janna said casually and the young royal finally noticed the three around her, smiling instantly.

"Hey," she greeted cheerily.

"So how'd things go with your mom?" Jackie asked.

"Well she-" Star suddenly froze mid-sentence, spotting her boyfriend's form peeking out from behind a plant. "Marco, what are you doing?"

Marco flinched at his name, before stumbling out from behind the bush with eyes blown wide and a fake smile on his face. He quickly stuttered out a rushed lie, "Oh I was just... umm, counting the leaves on this plant."

Jackie and Janna both face-palmed at the terrible lie and Star merely raised an eyebrow, before looking around at her other two friends. "Okay what really happened?" she asked suspiciously.

"We were spying on you, sorry," Jackie quickly admitted, knowing it was useless to lie to the princess at this point.

Star looked like she was on the verge of getting angry, but she quickly let it go, saying in an excited tone, "That's fine. Besides then, that means you guys already know everything right?"

"Yep, your mom said yes," Janna said. "And that you are apparently your dad's baby girl."

Star glared at her friend at the last bit, saying in annoyance, "Okay, I'm no longer okay with you listening in on me when I'm with my parents. Or you listening in on me period."

Janna shrugged. "It's never bothered you before," the creepy girl stated.

Star's eyes widened. "Please tell me your joking," Star deadpanned.

"Hey, if it helps you sleep at night," came Janna's cryptic reply.

"She's joking," Jackie reassured her friend, rolling her eyes.

"I had a feeling," Star said, with a scoff. "If someone really was spying on me, I think I would know it."

From the corner of his eye, Marco spotted Starfan13, her small form hidden completely in one of the decorative plants and for a moment their eyes met. Then the fan girl put a finger to her lips, telling Marco to keep quiet about her presence. Before the hooded boy could respond, the girl slowly slinked lower into the fronds, her form somehow disappearing as she lowered herself into the depths of the plant. Marco blinked, not sure how what he just saw was even physically possible (even for a Mewman), before turning back to face the girls with a dumbfounded look in his eyes.

"So then, how about we start working on the MMPC?" Star said clapping her hands together, which sounded more like a command than a suggestion. "We still have lots to do before it's ready-"

Star was interrupted as Janna suddenly threw her arm around her shoulders, leaning quite a bit of body weight on the princess which caused her to stumble. "Yeah we could do that or we could go out and celebrate your victory," the creepy girl said persuasively.

"Janna I really don't think that's a good idea, we don't have time to-" Star started to argue, but was immediately interrupted by her insistent teen.

"Aww come on, you guys have plenty of time to do all your boring planning. But right now is our only chance to go see the soul rise at Lava Lake Beach."

"In the Underworld?" Jackie questioned.

"Uhh, yeah, why?" Janna said not sensing the cynicism in her roommate's tone.

"Janna there is no way we are taking Marco to the Underworld. He is too innocent and pure to visit that awful place," Star argued, feeling quite overprotective of her boyfriend.

"Whatever Star, you just don't want to go because your afraid you'll see Tom there," Janna said knowingly, which caused Star to glare back defiantly.

"Yeah well I'm still not talking to that jerk," Star muttered in anger, crossing her arms. "Besides the only reason _you_ want to go is in hopes you will see Tom," the blond shot back in a louder voice.

Though Janna did her best to hide it, all of her friends caught the subtle blush on the girl's cheeks. "Yeah well, can't blame a girl for trying," she said, not denying the claim. "Still, we should all do something to celebrate that doesn't involve politics."

"It would be kinda nice to just relax for a bit, since we're gonna be so busy for a while," Jackie slowly agreed, giving Star an apologetic look along with it. The princess looked to her left to see Marco looking like he was also wanting very badly to do something fun but wouldn't admit to it, literally biting his lip to keep himself silent, not wanting to risk upsetting his bestie or defy his parent's vision.

Finally, Star let out a sigh, knowing she was outnumbered, before saying, "I guess a little break won't hurt anything." She watched her boyfriend's face brighten out of the corner of her eye and felt her heart swell, feeling suddenly proud of her decision. He deserved a break after everything he had been through. "Besides, we don't even have all our members together yet anyways," she continued. She then turned to her half-Monster friend with a narrowed glare, adding warningly, "But no soul rise."

"Ooh ooh, I know what we could do," Marco suddenly pitched in helpfully, waving his arm in the air to draw their attention. "I heard about these movies that are going to be coming on the magic mirrors and it's got this really famous warrior from Earth called Mackie Hand! They're supposed to be really good. We could watch those, if you guys want."

Janna and Jackie both smiled at the suggestion and Star took her boyfriend's hand in hers, giving it an encouraging squeeze. "You know what, Marco. That sounds just perfect," Star said. And it really did.

So for the rest of the afternoon, the four friends forgot all about the troubles plaguing the rest of Mewni and the hard task that now was ahead of them. Instead, for a few hours, the teens just allowed themselves to live, right there, in that moment, just laughing and watching cheesy karate movies and eating popcorn and just acting like normal teenagers and best friends... if only for a short while.

 **Okay! Another chapter done and done! *happily claps hands together in success* So as I've been telling people before that Marco will help contribute in a different way than fighting, this is what I meant, but didn't want to spoil. Marco is going to be the mediator for the Monsters, representing them from Star's own self made commission and resolving issues in the least violent way possible. I think this fits his character a bit more as I tried to make a point of showing him negotiating and convincing others to his mindset through words not actions. Hope I pulled that off well.**

 **One of my favorite parts of this chapter however was writing the Magic High Commission, because they are all really fun characters that I wanted to make sure had some form of importance in this story. Even Glossaryk (who is my least favorite character in the cannon) was pretty entertaining to get a chance to write. I actually wrote the scene two chapters ago but cut it as I didn't feel it fit there well and decided it would be better to show in flashback in this one.**

 **Also this next paragraph will be a bit of a spoiler for season 4 so don't read it if you don't want to be spoiled... you have been warned...**

 ***So for all of you who have seen "Curse of the Blood Moon" and are suffering, I will be handing out healing hugs and Starco First Aid kits to any who need them. Just let me know in the comments. I am enjoying this season but man that episode hurt on so many levels. But look at it this way, my friends, if they fell in love once, they can do it again.***

 **Okay spoiler warning ended. So now I will get to work on the next chapter, as well as the next one for my other story, "Star is a Disney Princess". Man this next one is gonna be a fun one to write! Love you all, see you next time!**

 **Now, onwards! To the reviews!**

 **Gamelover41592- Glad you liked it! Yeah, I wanted it to have more of a fairytale feel at the beginning, but then a Shakespeare-esque tragic ending. Haha. I'm laughing and crying at the same time right now. ;^V^; As great and deep as the ending was it literally hurt to write. Still, that probably means I did it right if it made me feel something writing it. Hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **themast3rmind.m15- You have no idea. Yeah, I've heard that quote before too and I think it does set up this next season quite well. Miss Heinous is a good villain and I'm looking forward to exploring her more later on. Hmm, that's a bit of a spoiler question, all I can say is that Marco does have a strong tolerance for magic like all Mewmans. Thanks for your question sorry I couldn't really answer it fully.**

 **lookingforentertainment- Wow, I'm so glad someone else gets that! Like how can someone be so evil and emotionless and yet somehow still so entertaining! I do have a love-hate relationship with Toffee, the way he's so calm and calculated and full of mystery, yet still so openly cruel, he stole every scene for me in the show and was immensely fun to write, getting into his twisted mindset and showing his slow corruption over time. Thanks for the review, friend!**

 **Sugar- Glad you like them, but yeah sorry I can see you not liking the whole "Love at first site" cliché very much. I'm a big dork when it comes to those kinda cliches. Also I wanted the first part to feel like a fairytale being told, but no you are right, Star and Marco did not fall in love instantly, rather they did have an attraction to each other at the beginning but over time and getting to know one another they realized how much they truly cared. I'm an avid believer that you need to be friends first before dating, so I did try to make sure both Marco's parents and Starco had time to allow those feelings to truly take hold, just didn't have as much time for the first. I put the scene in in favor of having a Starco moment and didn't think about it at the time. Haha, my bad.**

 **Huh, that's a strange but good comparison to make. I do enjoy Balto and the adventurous atmosphere it creates, so I kinda like the idea of that feeling carrying over to my story. :) Yeah, I forgot to explain that in the last one... Monsters age differently than Mewmans do, so it didn't take long before he reached adulthood meaning that he grew up with them, but his childhood only took a few years to finish. Rafael and Angie didn't have Marco that old, both barely in their thirties at the time.**

 **As for the Mewman nurses, yeah that's just a plot hole. *covers up that part of the story with hands* Ignore the plot holes! Haha, they were actually supposed to be human nurses requested in there from Earth, but I'm so used to writing "Mewman" I didn't notice and forgot to write that part in. I might go back and fix that later, I don't know. But yeah, baby Marco was soooo cute and having his parents and Buff Frog fuss over him was just so fluffy and heartwarming to write, I loved it! :3**

 **Oh boy, I was really hoping the end part wouldn't break you! Sorry, the scene was so hard to write, but still so interesting, ugh why do I love drama and tragedy so much! I wanted the scene to carry all the weight and sadness it deserved, but man was it heartbreaking. And the scene with Buff Frog and Marco... yeah, I like how that one turned out sooo much! Yeah, it's pretty incredible to me too that it was still so sad without showing blood, but that was mostly because I think I might have broken if I had actually wrote Toffee murdering them instead of just heavily implying it.**

 **This one turned out quite well in my opinion as well. One of my favorites, despite the plot holes. *Again tries and cover them with her hands* A cute, tragic, bittersweet chapter to bring out all the feels inside. Them staying behind and accepting death to save their son was both the best and worst part of the chapter for me.**

 **Pen-Woman- Awww, stop your making me blush! #^_^# So glad your enjoying this little old story of mine so much! Hope you like this one as well.**

 **Monkey lover 911- Thank you as always, friend! What's next? What's next?! I don't know, you'll just have to read and find out, hehe. ;)**

 **Guest- Wish granted! *throws glitter in the air to simulate magic effect***

 **Author-Nim- Thank you so much! Wow, really I inspired you to continue writing! That is so incredible and amazing you have no idea! To think my love of writing inspired someone else to pursue their own dreams, is just so... indescribable, seriously! I'm literally crying tears of joy right now! :') I will continue to do my best and I wish you the best of luck and success in your own writing!**

 **Julian- Well, here you go a chapter to help heal your broken Starco heart, I tried to slip in some sweet moments of Starco as I always do to every chapter, hope that helps a little.**

 **So when I read your comment the first time I hadn't actually seen this episode but now that I have... I'm not really sure how I feel. On the one hand, yeah that trope is getting kinda old for me as well. I generally try to stay positive when it comes to the things I like and I especially try not to bash on things others enjoy but... a season of just cute Starco goodness would have been nice and undoing one of my favorite episodes of the show is a little upsetting.**

 **On the other hand though, I also feel like it is in a way a good thing. I have nothing against Kellco and Tomstar, I'm just an avid Starco shipper at heart, so the fact that their exploring that romance a little doesn't really upset me. I've heard people point out that this season is focusing a lot on choice being the main theme for Star's character growth so giving her the freedom to choose wasn't inherently a bad thing. I myself have made the argument that they have to get together because their souls are bonded and literally that's it. Now I may no longer have that safety net, but just think, if and when they do get together, it will be all the sweeter because we will know it is because they truly love each other. Hang in there okay, we'll get through this together.**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	24. Big Brother Marco

Chapter 23: Big Brother Marco

 **Hello again, everyone! I'm back and better than ever! Hope you are all having a great week and have been enjoying the amazing new Star vs episodes. I have been! Though I haven't see the latest set yet, but I'm going to reaaalll soon.**

 **Anyways, here is the new one, featuring my own OC characters. Wow! Well expect for Jak and Dex I guess, they were supposed to be just two random guards for the "When Star Met Marco" chapter, but for whatever reason just kept popping up all over the place afterwards. I don't know why. These ones will have a bit more significance going forward so please let me know what you think of them.**

 **Also real quick wanted to a quick shout out to Ghosta16689 and their amazing story "The Untold Story Of A Youth Of Septarsis". You can find it over on AO3 or Archive Of Our Own. It's really, really good and I would highly suggest reading it. Ghosta loosely based their story off of this one, using much of my timeline and cannon for theirs and even credited myself for inspiring the idea, so I absolutely had to return the favor and credit them back. Thanks so much, Ghosta, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **And thanks as always to all my loyal readers for all the favorites, follows, and views, seeing so much love for my story always puts a smile on my face and makes writing totally worthwhile! So without further ado, please enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The next few days passed by quickly on Mewni as Star, Marco, and Jackie worked tirelessly to set up their peace commission, hoping and praying that it would be a success. The three debated and planned all they could for their new organization, creating a set of rules to be followed and what all their jobs would entail. Meanwhile, Moon spoke with the Magic High Commission and after a bit of convincing was able to talk them into agreeing to let Star follow through with her plan. As expected there was a condition, though one that no one could have predicted. They would allow Star to form her commission on the terms that one of their members join as well to make sure things "ran smoothly". Which to Star meant that they would have one of their own spying on them and would report back in case they slipped up. This only added more pressure and worry onto Star, but she did her best to not let it get to her, reminding herself that all would work out so long as they stuck with her plan.

Besides, they still had a bit of a ways to go before everything was ready yet. They were still working on getting all the members together, Star quite adamant on neither Tom nor Pony Head being allowed to be representatives of their kingdoms. Jackie did her best to talk her into it, reminding her that they were the future rulers of their kingdom and she would have to face them eventually, to which Star merely sighed and said that she would think about it.

As for the other members, Star had already gotten into contact with them, and many seemed on board with joining, much to the three teens' delight and relief. And it was one of those future members that had Jackie, Star, and her mom standing outside the castle gates that bright afternoon as they waited for their inevitable arrival, though they had no idea when that would be. None of them said a word to one another, all lost in their own thoughts, as they just stood in silence, hoping that they would soon see a carriage approaching down the way.

Jak and Dex, as always, were guarding the gates and they seemed quite pleased that they were there to witness this crucial and important meeting, Star able to feel their inquisitive stares burning into her back. Star had officially announced her plans for the MMPC publicly just after she had been given the okay from the Magic High Commission and many seemed quite thrilled at the idea. It was a big change, but a good one, many already feeling much safer knowing that their future leader would be looking after them and actively working on protecting them.

As a result, Star's MMPC was a popular and trending subject on not just Mewni but also on Earth and several other neighboring dimensions as well. So the blond couldn't really blame the two guards for their curiosity, everyone seemed eager to learn more and the chance to gain any tidbit of knowledge on what her and her friends were up to would be a hard thing to pass up or ignore. And she had no doubt that Jak and Dex would be sharing whatever they saw to as many people as possible the second they could.

Finally, Jackie decided to interrupt the very, very important and incredibly boring task of watching the road ahead to ask, "Soo, any idea when they're gonna get here? It's already been over an hour and there's still no sign of them yet."

"Well it is quite a long ways for them to travel, so we could be looking at several more hours before they arrive," Moon replied, matter-of-factly.

Star and Jackie both released deep sighs at that, as they slouched slightly in boredom. "Why didn't they just use dimensional scissors then," Star muttered under her breath, though her mother was able to hear every word but chose not to say anything.

After that, Star and Jackie chose to sit on the ground and rest as they continued the excruciatingly long wait, despite it not looking the least bit regal or commanding. But they had some time to kill before their guests arrived, might as well be comfortable while they waited. Moon, surprisingly didn't reprimand her daughter like Star expected her to, though she did remain standing herself, keeping a tall, dignified stance as the minutes dragged by.

Star knew her mother had to be uncomfortable (who wouldn't be having to stand straight and poised at all times) and so asked very lightly, "Mom, you maybe want to sit and rest a bit before they get here? You said yourself that it could be a while."

Moon did really want to, but part of being a queen was looking the part at all times. Her daughter was just too young to get that yet. She opened her mouth to decline but was interrupted by one of the guards who, overhearing the conversation, were eager to please their ruler.

"Would you like a chair to sit in while you wait, Your Highness," Jak quickly blurted out, his obvious need for attention shining in his eyes as he addressed his queen. "I would be happy to go fetch you one-"

"No, thank you," Moon politely declined, smiling to the guard. "That's quite all right, umm..."

"Jak," Star whispered up to her mom, seeing her freeze up.

"Yes, Jak, thank you, Star," Moon quickly said, shooting her daughter a grateful look. "But that won't be necessary."

"Well if there is anything we can do to make you more comfortable, just let us know, Queen Moon," Dex now pitched in.

"I will, thank you," Moon said, before looking to her daughter for help again. Star rolled her eyes, unable to believe that her mom had no clue what any of the guards names were, or most of the staff for that matter. She knew that her mom had been gone a while but, sheesh, seriously, how hard was it to remember a couple of names?

"Dex," Star said and Moon quickly nodded, before repeating, "Dex. I quite appreciate the concern."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Dex said, neither looking even slightly bothered by their queen not knowing their names, as they bowed low to the ground.

"It's too bad Marco isn't here," Star said suddenly. She froze up as she realized she had just voiced that thought out loud, out of completely nowhere. She blushed as four pairs of quizzical eyes landed on her and she quickly added, "Because, he'd somehow find a way to make all this entertaining."

Star tried to ignore the knowing look from her mom as she towered over her or the short exchange between Jak and Dex behind her, who were undoubtedly cooing over the young couple, as she just focused on stopping anymore blood from rushing to her cheeks.

Thankfully, Jackie (her saving grace) merely nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, it does seem to be a gift of his," Jackie said, knowing exactly what Star was talking about. The two friends both found themselves missing the boy quite a bit right then and knew that he was probably pretty disappointed himself that he couldn't be there for this.

He had wanted to be but Higgs, her patience now stretched to its breaking point, had insisted that he stop putting off his self defense classes any longer and absolutely refused to take no for an answer. She had dragged the boy away, ignoring his protests, reminding him that if he didn't do this that she would go back to guarding him 24/7. This had instantly shut him up, though Star had shouted out to him in reassurance, "Don't worry about it, we'll make sure your there for the next one."

Now it seemed like Marco had dodged a bullet, just sitting here, waiting for what felt like forever, watching the road so long your eyes started to go blurry, all in the hopes of spotting a...

Star felt her heart skip a beat, nearly rubbing her eyes to check and make sure she was seeing things right. Because, _finally_ , there at the end of the road, a purple carriage was exiting out of town and heading their way. The blond royal jumped to her feet, shouting out, "They're here!"

Jackie jumped up as well, as the three women all looked at the welcoming sight with wide and warm smiles, all of them now standing as straight and tall as possible, hoping to make a good first impression with their guests.

...

The fancy carriage slowly made its way through the busy streets of town, accompanied by the sound of clopping hooves from the invisible goats that dragged it behind them. Civilians and passerby's all eyed the expensive looking vehicle with great interest. While inside the carriage, two of its residents looked out the windows at the Mewmans with equal amounts of intrigue as those outside. Two little girls, both at the age of eight, stood up in their seats, drawing back the curtains to gaze in wonder at the strange sights of their new destination.

"Are we here yet, did we make it? Is this where Butterfly Castle is?" one of them asked, practically bouncing in her seat, an excited and enthusiastic energy surrounding her. She had long peach colored hair, that hung down to her waist, with a small yellow flower poised delicately in it. She had tanned skin and bright blue eyes that shined with all the innocence in the world. She wore a modestly short, sleeveless purple dress, with small diamonds lining the bottom, peach colored legging that matched her hair and light blue socks with dark blue shoes. She had rosy cheeks that helped to accent her flower cheek marks which were peach colored just like her hair. She smiled brightly at the other occupants of the carriage, revealing the missing tooth she had.

"I wonder if we're gonna see any Monsters while we're here," the other girl in the seat across from her said, looking equally excited at the idea, before she pressed her face against the window, trying to pick out any of the weird looking creatures from the crowd. This girl had short dark blue hair, combed back into a spiky style. She also had blue eyes, one of the only features she shared with her twin, though unlike her sister she wore red eyeshadow over it. She had black and white stripped t-shirt with a dark purple ruffled skirt. She also had on red stripped leggings and green boots with a small spike sticking up out of the top of it. Her cheek marks were small creepy-looking eyes, reminiscent to that of a monster, that glowed dark, nearly sinister purple. They each had a single blue bat wing attached to them.

"Or maybe we'll get to see a real unicorn!" the first added in an excited shout. She then squealed as she realized that they were in fact in the right place. "Wait, look I can see see it, Violet! There's Butterfly Castle!" She pressed her finger against the glass, pointing out the large structure to her twin.

Violet, as she was apparently called, followed the pointing finger, before openly scowling at the sight. "This place looks weird," she remarked, as she eyed the castle wearily, her nose crinkling in dissatisfaction. "It's too bright and colorful. Why would anyone want to stay in a place like this?"

"Well I think it looks amazing!" the other girl shouted, her eyes shimmering in wonder. She turned to the third resident of the royal carriage, asking, "Are we really going to be staying here, mommy?"

Their mother closed the book she had been reading to pass the time, saying to the two with a bright smile, "Yes, we are. I'm going to be helping your cousin Star set up her peace commission." Their mother had short peach-colored hair, that hung down to just below her ears, as well as blue eyes like her daughters. She had a single strand of hair that framed her face, braided with flowers of every color and variety. Her skin was pale, much like Violet's but her cheeks glowed rosy like her other daughters. She wore a long, light green dress, full of frills and layers, showing off her regalia and high position to any who looked her way, which was also accented with designs of flowers along the hem lines. She had on dark green boots with yellow legging. Her cheek marks were glowing lily flowers, which reflected either yellow or pink depending on the light that struck them.

"Yay, this is going to be so exciting, I can't wait!" the peach haired girl shouted.

"Yeah, of course you would think that, Daisy," Violet scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, whats that supposed to mean?" Daisy asked defensively, putting her hands on her hips as she scowled at her twin, still standing up in her seat.

"Just that you're always into all that dumb frilly, girly junk," Violet replied.

"Hey it's not dumb!" Daisy whined.

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Girls please," their mother interrupted, sighing in exasperation. "No fighting." She had been listening to the two of them arguing off and on the entire carriage ride there and her patience was growing thin. She was beginning to wish she had just used dimensional scissors to travel like she had been advised rather than trying to take her two daughters on an exciting adventure through Mewni as a means for some mother-daughters bonding time.

The girls did grow quiet after that, the only sound now heard in the carriage being the gentle clopping of the invisible goat's hooves as they pulled the carriage along. Daisy and Violet took their seats once more, going back to just curiously staring out the window, taking in the sights around them with silent awe. Their mother sighed gratefully and leaned her head back against her seat, enjoying the moment of silence, knowing it couldn't last long.

The buildings began to lessen more and more as they drew nearer to Butterfly Castle until the carriage pulled onto the paved path that lead right to the palace. And just a few moments later, the carriage came to a stop at the gates, the giant goats finally able to rest after the tiring journey. The large, colorful structure towered overhead, looking as majestic and magical as possible. Daisy was in awe at the sight, openly gawking and muttering "wows" under her breath, while Violet was doing her best to keep the frown on her face, not wanting to show her twin that she was just as captivated by the sight as she was.

The two were so in awe of the castle that neither of them noticed the group standing in front of the gates patiently or the two guards who were practically racing each other to be the first to open the door to the carriage. Jak got there first, opening the door wide and startling the two young girls inside, who jumped at the sudden movement. The guard smiled in at the three occupants, his eyes freezing on the oldest one there as he said in the most respectful tone he could, "Lady Lily it is a pleasure to meet you-"

Jak was practically shoved out of the way, as Dex said to the girl's mother, "Lady Lily Butterfly please allow me to personally offer my assistance to you." He held out his hand to her, which she accepted, using his hand for balance as he helped her to climb down and out of the carriage.

"Thank you, sir knight," Lily said to Dex with a bright grin, her cheeks marks glowing pink, causing her cheeks to do the same until practically all of her face was lit up by the warm glow of her own marks. The guard felt his knees go weak a little. After all, the woman in front of him was quite beautiful.

"U-Uh, well I'm not a knight, ma'am, just a common g-guard," Dex gulped out, feeling quite flustered in the presence of such stunning loveliness.

"Well thank you regardless," Lily said flirtingly, before giving the guard a kiss on the cheek, the man nearly passing out from the sudden action as he stumbled back and into the arms of his fellow guard, who looked quite unhappy at being left out.

"Well she certainly hasn't changed a bit," Moon commented, soundly clearly annoyed, as her, Star and Jackie watched their guest ten seconds since arriving kiss a random man on the cheek.

Lily spotted the three just then and waved to them, a bright, cheerful smile on her face. "Come along, girls," Lily yelled back to her daughters as she started toward the castle, ignoring the blushing, unconscious man she left in her wake. Daisy and Violet quickly jumped out of the carriage as well, moving around Dex and following after their mother, Daisy skipping with every other step.

"Moon, it's been too long!" Lily greeted, once she was close enough to the three. Daisy and Violet, however, instantly bypassed their mother and Moon, as they immediately ran to Star, shouting, "Star!" They quickly began bouncing and circling their cousin, talking a mile a minute, both nearly shouting so they could be heard over each other, but ultimately making it impossible to understand a word they were saying, but Star just smiled and laughed at the two.

"Yes, hello Lily, I trust your journey was pleasant," Moon said in an almost emotionless tone.

Lily scoffed at that, before saying in near annoyance, "Now is that anyway to greet your cousin whom you haven't seen for so long." She shook her head, tutting chidingly. "Same old Moon, I was hoping after marrying that Johanssan barbarian of yours, you would at least learn how to relax a little and not be so stiff like the rest of the family."

Moon frowned at that, saying in a clearly irritated tone, "So good to have you here as always."

Lily laughed, as she surprised her dear cousin with a hug. "Oh Moon, I'm just teasing. I just wish you wouldn't be so formal around me, we are family after all."

Moon's body remained tense for a few seconds before she allowed herself to relax, patting her cousin's back as she returned the hug. "Yes well, you can't really blame me, considering you are here for diplomatic reasons."

"Speaking of which," Lily said, as she pulled out of the hug, turning to Jackie and Star who were still being bombarded by excited shouts from her daughters. "There's my favorite neice!" she cried, a bright smile lighting up her face.

"Aunt Lily!" Star squealed in delight, before rushing over and embracing her favorite aunt in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oof!" Lily gasped out in surprise not expecting the startling hug, nearly stumbling over the blond girl's almost tackle. But she quickly began laughing as she returned the embrace, commenting playfully, "My Star, look at how much you've grown! The last time I saw you you were just a tiny little thing and now look at you. You're practically an adult."

Star giggled at that, though her cheeks did turn the slightest shade of pink, causing her hearts to glow more than usual. "It's so good to see you again, Aunt Lily! We have so much catching up to do!"

"Yes, we do, I've heard you've been quite the busy bee lately. Even getting yourself a cute, little boyfriend." Star's blush worsened at that, her cheeks turning beet red and her hearts cheek marks thumping against her will at the mere mention of Marco, but Lily pretended not to notice. "You'll have to be sure and tell me everything later!"

"Absolutely, I will!" Star exclaimed, giving her another short hug. "I'm just so glad you came, Aunt Lily!"

"Well of course I came," Lily said sweetly. "The minute I heard my favorite niece was in need of my help, I dropped everything and left the moment I could."

Moon held back a scoff at that, considering how long they had had to wait for her to arrive. But none of them of course commented on this, Jackie instead choosing to speak up and address their royal guest for the first time, "Well we're really glad you did."

Lily looked over to the young skater now, saying politely, "Ah Jackie good to see you are here as well. How is your skateboarding going? Have you learned any new tricks since the last time I saw you?"

Jackie shrugged, saying modestly, "A few."

"Great! You'll have to show me them later," Lily said with a warm smile, which caused Jackie to grin ear to ear and reply, "Sure thing." She adored Star's favorite aunt almost as much as Star did, she was just so cool and always seemed to know just what to say.

"Well, let's get inside, no sense in standing out here all day, not when there is work to be done!" Lily cried, taking the initiative and already strolling toward the castle.

"Yay!" Daisy cheered, grabbing her sister's arm and dragging her behind her as she raced after their mother, excited to explore the inside of the fancy palace. Moon frowned, not enjoying her cousin's often bossy nature, but followed after, taking a deep breath as she tried to remind herself not to lose her calm, with Jackie following right after her.

Star turned back to the carraige her aunt and nieces had arrived on, calling out to the two guards polietly, "Jak, Dex, would you please make sure the carriage is put away and bring in Lady Lily's things for us?"

"Of course, Your Majesty, it would be our honor!" Jak happily complied, saluting the princess. Dex, on the other hand was still too disoriented, smiling goofily and looking completely smitten with the visiting royal as he rubbed absentmindedly at the cheek she had kissed, unaware of the world turning.

"Thank you," Star said gratefully, before turning away from the two, trusting them to take care of it, while also trying to hide her smile over how ridiculous the guard currently looked.

…

"Woooowwww!" Daisy and Violet gasped out in awe the moment they entered the beautiful castle, even the latter unable to hide her wonderment over the palace that held the most powerful monarchs in the land. It certainty lived up to their fantasies, the interior exquisite and massive, signs of wealth, power, and bright beauty everywhere you looked. Star and Jackie smiled at the two's amazement.

"So welcome to Butterfly Castle," Star said, wanting to stay at least semi-formal since they were visiting royalty. "Umm, so I'm sure you must be tired and hungry after the long trip so we'd be happy to show you all to your rooms and then we can-"

"Oh no that's quite all right," Lily interrupted. "I'm more than ready to begin work on your peace commission if that's alright with you?"

Star looked slightly shocked at the statement, but quickly recovered saying, "O-Of course. That would be great! We still have a lot to get going before its ready and we would love some help on it!"

"Hey, what about us?" Violet whined, crossing her arms and frowning angrily.

"Yeah, we wanted to spend time with Star," Daisy added, looking equally annoyed as she stamped her foot cutely on the ground.

"Not now, girls," their mother said simply.

"That's not fair, why do you get to spend time with Star and not us?!" Violet argued, pouting.

Jackie quickly took charge of the situation, bending down so she was level with the two and putting a hand on their shoulders. She looked between the two, saying reasonably, "Star has work to do right now, but she will spend time with you later, okay?"

The two shared a quick look, before frowning stubbornly, still not giving in just yet. But Jackie didn't let this effect her, maintaining her cool radiance as she added, "And if you two mind your mom, I might even show you a few tricks on my skateboard."

The twins instantly perked up at that, their eyes twinkling excitedly as they gasped, "Really?!"

"Yep," Jackie nodded.

"Okay then!" Voilet cheered, all anger forgotten.

"Yeah, we'll behave!" Daisy added, equally cheerily.

"It's a deal then," Jackie said, rising back up to her feet and smiling down at the two. "Now you two go and play in your room, okay?"

The two nodded vigorously before taking off down the hallway, already pretending to be on skateboards as they zipped down the brightly lit corridors.

"Have fun, girls!" their mother yelled after them, before turning to Jackie with a grateful smile. "Thank you for that, Jackie. I owe you one."

"Not a problem," Jackie replied.

Lily nodded, before clapping her hands together, saying enthusiastically, "Now then, since that's all settled, let's get started shall we? After all, the sooner we get your commission up and going the better."

Star nodded, saying, "Right."

"Well then I will leave you all to it," Moon said, politely excusing herself. "I have work of my own to do."

"Uh huh, I know how that goes," Lily said in agreement. Moon started down the hallway but, Lily quickly called out to her teasingly, "Be sure to say hello to that husband of your, Moony."

Moon whipped back around to glare at her and Lily put on an innocent smile. She knew how much her cousin despised the nickname. Moon looked like she was on the verge of saying something, but she seemed to get control of herself once more, continuing on down the hall without a word, but still looking quite agitated. Lily just laughed, saying proudly to herself, "Still too easy."

"Soooo, um," Star said, wanting to get the conversation away from messing with her mom and back on the important stuff.

"Oh right, of course," Lily said, quickly remembering why she was there. "Lead the way."

Star obeyed, guiding her aunt and friend to her room, which was their makeshift headquarters for now until they could get a proper room dedicated to it. Her mother's situation room was quite often in use right now, what with Rasticore still on the loose and the Butterfly's still desperately trying to plan a way to catch him and the only other room for the job was the tiny meeting room that Star shuddered at the mere thought of being trapped in again. So for now, her room would just have to do.

She turned over her shoulder slightly, telling her aunt, "Just warning you, we still have a _lot_ of paperwork to sign before the MHC will let us become official."

Lily scoffed, waving a hand at that, not looking the slightest bit concerned. "Oh trust me, I've had my fair share of paperwork in the past," she said calmly. The three reached the room just then, Star opening the door to let Jackie and her aunt inside. "Besides, how bad can it be?" she stated, as she stepped inside.

Her smile instantly vanished, as she stared wide-eyed and mouth agape of the piles and piles of paperwork that now crowded the large room, every inch seemingly filled with the unfinished documents. Star just looked at her sheepishly, waiting for her to respond, feeling bad for getting her into this mess and knowing she had to be regretting her involvement as well. The Magic High Commission had just decided to drop all of this off on her the day before, without any warning or heads up whatsoever. No, they just spring all this extra work on her last minute, while also requiring she have one of their own members join her group as their own personal spy. Part of her wondered if they had done this to her on purpose, in hopes of discouraging her or making her quit... or at the very least slow her down as much as possible. Nope, scratch that, she knew they were doing this on purpose. After all one more Monster attack and they were all in control of Mewni.

Her Aunt Lily, though, to her credit didn't run away like she expected her to. Instead after several awkward seconds, she just said in a shocked, uneven tone, "Well this may take us a bit longer than expected."

Understatement of the year.

…

Marco groaned in pain as he sluggishly trudged through the castle on his way to his room, after a long and bruising self-defense lesson with Higgs. He was feeling quite sore, possibly worse than the last time he had gone head to head with the redheaded knight, his body not used to that level of physical exercise, yet. That and the young knight seemed incapable of holding back that much, despite her promise to do so. How the heck was Marco supposed to learn self-defense if she just kept knocking him down over and over again? All she was going to end up doing was giving him brain damage. Maybe he should just wear a helmet next time?

Marco sighed, holding onto his aching right arm, the part of him that probably hurt the worst right now, having taken the brunt of most of the hits. As his dominant hand it was the one that had to do most of the punching and guarding during the session, which meant that it was the most overworked part of him right now.

And the worst part of it was, because of Higgs's lesson (which he was still glad to be getting, even if it was exhausting) that meant he had missed greeting the newest member of Star's commission, who was apparently Star's aunt or something. So not only had he missed a chance to finally begin acting as a member of the peace commission but he had missed an opportunity to meet another member of his girlfriend's family. And from the way Star had talked about her, she was quite fond of her too.

Maybe he could try and make a good first impression later, whenever that would be. He would have to be sure to have some sort of speech prepared or something, he didn't want to dare risk upsetting her as literally everything depended on their first meeting going well. Both because of his important duties as a representative for the Monsters and his future relationship with his amazing girlfriend.

"Hope everything went okay," he mumbled worriedly to himself. But there was nothing really he could do about it right now. For now, all he wanted to do was get to his room and take a long nap, hoping he would feel better once he did. Maybe then he could go and help the others out, as well as meet their newest member. He just hoped they were doing well without him.

"Hey stop it, Daisy, that's mine!"

"No, it's not, it's mine! Mom gave it to me for my birthday!"

"Uhh, we both have the same birthday, dummy! And she gave it to me!"

"You're lying!"

"No you are!"

"Are not!

"Are too!"

Marco froze on the spot as he heard the loud argument of what sounded like a couple of kids coming from the guest bedroom. Young girls it sounded like. He didn't recognize their voices at all, which was quite strange. Sure he didn't know everyone in the castle but he was pretty sure if there were any children there, he would have noticed by now. He looked over at the door to the guest room and sure enough could see light clearly peeking out through the cracks. Huh, so there was someone staying in there, a couple of young and very noisy girls.

Marco crept slowly over, making sure not to make a sound, not that it was necessary considering the loud racket the two were still making within as they continued to fight over what seemed to be a pretty precious toy or something.

The hooded teen cracked open the door, so he could see inside, surveying the room closely. The once-empty room was now filled with toys and children's decorations everywhere, most of which were sprawled all over the floor. There was a bunk bed in the room, that Marco was sure hadn't been there before, the top with a cream-colored bedspread and pillow covered in flower print and the bottom a very, dark purple with creepy-looking eyeballs coating it, a small hand-made monster plush laying on it Marco noticed. He smiled, allowing his eyes to continue to roam, spotting a small table and chairs with a tea set lovingly and carefully set up on it before being pushed into the corner, while the other had jars full of some kind of dark blue goop inside (which Marco didn't even dare think of what the contents could be) in the other corner. The closest was opened and he could see two sets of clothing hung inside, one side full of bright, cheerful colored dresses, while the other end had the opposite: dark, dreary t-shirts and skirts. It seemed whoever was going to be staying in this room were about as opposite as night and day.

And once he saw the two girls, this confirmed this completely in his mind. They were standing in the middle of the room, large piles of toys stacked behind them, which Marco assumed was them trying to divide their things in half across the room. They were currently fighting over a fake wand, the hilt painted a dark green, but covered in bedazzled crystals, the top a rainbow with fake spiderwebs meticulously painted on it. The center was another of the creepy looking eyeballs which Marco noticed matched the dark haired girl's cheek marks. The tippy top of the wand had what looked like a unicorn horn poking out.

Just by looking at it Marco couldn't tell who the toy belonged to. By the looks of it, it seemed like the wand belonged to both of them. That thought brought Marco back to the question at hand, who were these two? He definitely hadn't seen them before, but it looked like they were moving in. Could they be fellow members Star hadn't told him about? Though the hooded boy would think they were too young for such an important and mature position and he didn't know if there was any sort of age rule against it or not.

But whoever they were, he felt like he should at least try and do something, unable to leave them arguing and fighting with each other like that. Marco opened the door wider and this instantly drew the attention of the two girls, who stopped their tug-of-war to stare shell-shocked at the stranger in their doorway. Marco could see their suspicious and apprehension toward him, as the peach haired girl even backed away a step, while the other glared at him wearily. "Um, hi there," Marco said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible, waving a hand slowly in the air and giving them a small smile, which he hoped came across as friendly and harmless and not at all creepy.

And though it didn't seem to thankfully frighten them anymore, they still never lost their looks of skepticism. "Who are you?" the dark-haired girl asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I'm Marco," the hooded boy cheerfully introduced himself, momentarily forgetting their fear as he shot his hand toward them to shake, causing them both to jump and take another cautious step back, the light haired girl moving behind her sister for protection.

"Are you... one of the servants?" the cutesy twin tried, keeping a close eye on the red hooded boy's hand as if it might suddenly attack her.

"No, I'm Princess Star's boyfriend," Marco said, his heart skipping beat as it always did whenever he mentioned this to anyone. It was still almost too good to be true.

The two girls shared a look with one another at that, before the dark one asked slowly, "Your our cousin's boyfriend?"

"Ohh," Marco said smacking his head, ignoring the pain that resulted from it, too deep in his own realization to actually answer the girl, all the pieces finally sliding into place in his mind. So that was it. "Your Star's cousins." Marco thought for a moment, before adding, "So then your mom must be our new member of the peace commission."

The two girls nodded, muttering, "Mmm-hmm." They now looked a lot more relaxed around the boy then before, the peach haired girl stepping out from behind her twin.

"Wow, so sorry, for just walking in on you like that," Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly. "I just wasn't expecting anyone to be in here. Star didn't say anything about you two staying with us. So when I heard voices I decided to investigate."

"That's okay!" the cutesy one said.

"So what are your names?" Marco asked.

"I'm Daisy!" the peach haired one announced loudly, pointing at herself and then at her sister. "And this is my little sister Violet."

Violet glared at her sister for that, shouting angrily, "Only by three minutes!"

"Well it still counts," Daisy said with a shrug.

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does!"

Marco looked uncomfortable as another fight began to break out, quickly saying, "Uh hey, do you two want to play a game?"

The two instantly ceased their bickering, whipping their heads around to the hooded boy, expectantly. "Like what?" Daisy asked curiously.

"Oh like, um..." Marco's eyes darted around the messy room, desperately searching for an idea to appease the girls. They stopped on the tea set and the boy blurted out, "A tea party!"

Daisy squealed and 'yay-ed' in joy, while Violet gagged at the suggestion, the mixed reaction troubling to Marco. "Lame!" Violet scoffed out. "And here I thought you might actually have something fun in mind." Daisy turned to her sister with a look of anger and Marco knew he had to do something before another fight broke out.

"Well t-that's because I didn't tell you the catch," he stuttered out quickly.

"Yeah and what's that?" Violet asked, raising a critical eyebrow at the boy, clearly calling his bluff.

Marco froze, sweat running down his face, as he tried to think of something that would please the gothic girl in front of him. _Come on Marco, think,_ he urged himself. _Okay, she's into all that weird, creepy stuff like Janna, so what would Janna do to make her happy?_

"Weeee... were all just cursed by an evil witch!" Marco screamed out in fake panic. Violet and Daisy gave him confused looks and for a second Marco feared they wouldn't play along and just go back to fighting.

That was until Daisy gasped, looking horrified. "Oh no, really?"

"What do we do?" Violet asked, also looking aghast.

"The only way to undo it is with the cure that I have hidden inside this tea," Marco said, dramatically pointing at the teapot.

"Then we better drink it quickly before the poison spreads to our nervous system and we become paralyzed," the dark-haired girl said, joyfully. She really seemed like she was enjoying herself now and Marco smiled despite how strange it was that a young girl would be nonchalantly discussing the effectiveness of poisons. He was friends with Janna after all, this seemed almost normal in comparison to her.

"Oh no, I think it's already spreading to me!" Marco screamed, before falling over onto one of their beds, making fake dying sounds as he flailed around on the bed, causing both girls to laugh hysterically.

"Marco, you can't be moving if your paralyzed!" Daisy said, in between giggles.

"Oh right," Marco said, before going still and stiff on the bed.

"Oh no he's dying!" Violet screamed. "Quickly Daisy, we need to give him the antidote!"

"I'm on it!" Daisy said, doing a salute as she raced over to the table, picking up her tea pot and a saucer and cup, before racing back over to where Violet, who was inspecting the immobile body of the hooded teen. "He only has seconds, hurry and give it to me!" Violet said, holding out her hand.

"No let me give it to him, I have more experience with tea," Daisy argued, moving the teacup out of reach from her twin.

Violet huffed in frustration, but snapped out, "Fine, but do it fast!"

Daisy then preceded to pour an invisible cup of tea into the cup, before handing the empty pot to her sister, carefully crawling onto her bed, trying her very best not to spill, as if in fear of burning the boy with the hot, non-existent liquid. Once she was next to the boy, she held the cup out, saying, "Here you go."

Marco sat up, taking the cup from her as he went to sip on it, but Daisy quickly stopped him. "Wait, you're doing it wrong."

The hooded boy cocked his head to the side, as he asked the young girl, "Really how?

"Your supposed to hold your pinky out," Daisy explained, holding out her pinky to demonstrate to Marco the correct way.

"Oh," he said nodding, before obeying the girl, holding out his pinky before pretending to sip the 'antidote/tea'. He licked his lips and rubbed his tummy as he said satisfyingly, "Mmm, delicious."

"Not really," Violet spoke up, climbing up onto the bed, now sitting at Marco's other side. "Paralysis poison antidote is made out of the slime of the bitterbite frogs, which is one of the most disgusting creatures in the universe." She paused for a second as the two just stared at her awkwardly. "Plus, tea is pretty gross anyways."

"Well I like it," Daisy huffed, her hands now on her hips. "Do you like tea, Marco?" she asked, the peach-haired girl looking up at him with cute, pleading eyes.

"Um, yeah I do," Marco said. "Well I mean, I think I would, if I ever actually had any."

Daisy gasped loudly. "You've never had tea before?" she exclaimed, looking like this was the most tragic, horrifying thing she'd ever heard.

Marco shook his head. "No, not that I can think of," he said nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Violet commented, before quickly changing the subject to something else, "So now what are we gonna play?"

"How about dragon attack?" Daisy suggested, hopping up on her bed.

"Dragon attack?" Marco repeated in confusion. He'd never heard of the game before.

"Oh yeah, I love that game!" Violet agreed (for once), delightedly. "But I get to have the wand."

"But you had the wand last time!" Daisy whined.

"Yeah, but I'm better at casting spells than you are. All your spells are just silly flowers and junk."

"Marco who do you think should have the wand?" Daisy asked, looking up at the boy with pleading eyes and the boy froze, suddenly unsure of what to do.

"Umm, well to be honest I don't even know what dragon attack is," Marco said, dodging the question for now.

The two looked at him in confusion. "How?" Daisy asked, looking dumbfounded that Marco didn't know what the very common game was.

Marco shook his head. "I just haven't," he replied.

"But every kid I know has played that game!" Violet shouted in shock.

A sad look crossed Marco's face, as he softly replied, "Well, there were a lot of things I couldn't really do growing up. And I didn't really have other kids to play with to show me how to play these kinds of things." And it was true, only Buff Frog or maybe one of the other Monsters would play with him. And even then it was pretty rare, most of the time Toffee wouldn't let them, having Marco had to stay in his room, alone, and not disturb the others.

The two girls shared a look across from each other, Daisy muttering sorrowfully, "That's so sad."  
Marco noticed that the twins were on the verge of tears and quickly put a smile back on his face, saying in the most cheerful voice he could, "Hey it's not so bad. Now I get to try all kinds of new things. Like drinking tea..." Marco held up the tea cup, holding out his pinky and the two giggled. "Or playing with you two. Just tell me the rules and I'm sure I'll be fine."

The two girls seemed to have perked up at this, the creepy twin quickly clearing her throat. "Well it goes like this," she began. "You have a base, which is your castle."

" And then a dragon comes and attacks your castle," Daisy quickly took over, jumping on the bed as she explained. "And then the princess, who has the wand, and her knights have to protect it from the dragon. If you beat the dragon you win, but if the dragon destroys your base then you lose."

"And all your citizens get eaten," Violet added dramatically.

Marco nodded thoughtfully. "Okay that sounds fun," he agreed, smiling joyfully at the two.

The three quickly set up their game, making a make-shift castle out of building blocks and using pillows and stuffed animals as a defense system against the attacking dragon. Violet began taking down her jars of goop off of one of the shelves to use at their moat but was stopped by Marco, who told her that wasn't the best idea.

While the three were busy setting up, Daisy, out of nowhere, said, "Thanks for playing with us, Marco."

Marco looked at the young girl in surprise.

"Yeah, none of the other adults ever play with us, they're always too busy."

"And your way more fun than any of them!" Daisy added.

Marco blushed, looking bashfully between the two girls."Aww, well thanks, I like playing with you two, too!" Marco said with a goofily wide smile, picking up the final remaining block and reaching up to set it in place. "After all, you are Star's family and anyone related to Star is alright in my book."

"Do you love her?" Daisy asked and Marco, completely caught off guard by the sudden question, felt the blood rushing to his cheeks and released a surprised squeak, dropping the block he was holding, causing it to hit the unstable tower and bringing the whole thing crashing down to the floor, completely destroyed. Daisy and Violet covered their mouths in shock and Marco just looked down at the pile of unstacked blocks with a dazed look.

"Sorry," Marco said, sheepishly.

"Guess we have to start over," Violet sighed, bending down as she began re-stacking the blocks and the other two joined her. The three worked on the tower for a few moments in silence, until Marco suddenly spoke up, in a soft, embarrassed tone.

"She means a whole lot to me," he admitted softly, his cheeks slightly tinged pink, keeping his eyes on the blocks as he began stacking. "She's my best friend. I don't know what I would do without her."

Daisy and Violet both turned to the boy with wide smiles on their faces. "Are you two gonna get married?" Daisy asked, eagerly.

Marco thought that over. "I don't know, we haven't really talked about that yet. We've only been on one date so far," Marco replied honestly.

"Well if you did get married, then we'd be related," Violet pointed out, sounding quite pleased at the idea.

"Yeah, you'd be like our big brother!" Daisy exclaimed, clapping her hands in joy.

Marco smiled. "Huh, I've never had sisters before, that'd be pretty cool," he said thoughtfully, imagining what it would be like to have siblings.

"Well we could be your little sisters now, if you wanted, even if we aren't related yet," Violet offered.

Marco looked touched at that, giving her a wide, grateful smile saying in a chocked tone, "I'd like that."

After that, the final block was set into place and the three stood back to admire their work, looking quite satisfied with their fake castle and defenses they had set up. "Okay, I think we're ready?!" Violet exclaimed, and Daisy cheered her agreement.

"Yeah, let's play!" the peach-haired girl yelled, pumping her fists into the air, before her and her sister ran over to their castle, crouching down behind the pile of pillow defenses, both of them now sharing hold on their toy wand.

But Marco couldn't help but notice something was missing. "Wait a minute, I just realized, who is gonna be the dragon?" he asked them and they looked at him like he was crazy.

"Silly, we're gonna make our own dragon," Daisy said brightly as if the answer was obvious.

Marco frowned at the cryptic answer. "But how are we gonna-"

The hooded teen lost his voice though, as the twin's cheek marks began glowing bright white in sync and out of thin air, a large, dark blue dragon appeared out of thin air. It had at least twenty eyeballs on its face, all of them looking just like Violet's cheek marks. Its body was long and snake-like with small multicolored gems covering its scaled body, a small purple flower at the tip of its long black wings. It hovered in mid-air, flapping its bat-like wings with sharp, steady beats.

Marco stumbled back in fright of the creature, exclaiming fearfully, "Where the heck did that thing come from?!" the hooded boy asked, wanting to run out of the room, but afraid to leave the two little girls alone and without protection.

"We made it," Daisy said simply, not looking the slightest bit fazed by the dangerous creature currently in their room.

"W-What? How?!" Marco asked loudly, in confusion.

"It's our Trait," Violet explained. "We can make imaginary things, but only if we both are thinking about it at the same time."

"Yeah if we don't agree, then it won't work," Daisy added. "So a lot of times we can't because Violet decides to be a big, dummy head."

"I do not!" Violet argued, fuming in anger.

"Well anyways," Daisy continued, ignoring her twin's rage. "You should probably get down behind something, before it eats you, big brother."

"Wait, what?!" Marco exclaimed in surprise, looking over to see the dragon spiraling toward him and he yelled, quickly running over to the pillow pile, where the two girls were. He leapt to safety behind the cushion-y wall, the dragon pulling up at the last second. Marco sat up, as he and the twins watched the dragon fly in circles around the ceiling, letting out a high-pitched roar. "So, what do we do, how do we beat it?" Marco asked panting, out of breath.

"We just have to destroy it by hitting it with stuff," Violet explained.

Suddenly, above them, the dragon seemed to get tired from its endless circling, as it flew down, scraping across the floor, sending toys scattering across the room, sailing right toward the three and their block castle.

"Incoming!" Daisy yelled.

"Protect the castle!" Violet shouted, authoritatively. The three began throwing pillows and stuffed animals at the dragon, which growled in anger, trying to dodge the barrage of soft projectiles with no luck.

It huffed, before flying over the three's heads, who all ducked low to avoid getting hit, the dragon's swinging tail, nearly knocking over their block tower.

"Whoa, that was close," Violet said breathlessly, as they all sat up.

"It's too strong we'll have to use magic to beat it!" Daisy suggested gravely.

"Yeah but someone will have to distract it while we get the spell ready," Violet pointed out.

"Who's that gonna be?" Marco asked, simply. The two turned to him with knowing looks on their faces, which Marco didn't catch, staring blankly back at the girls. "What?"

The dragon did a loop through the air, planning its next attack, this one sure to take out the block castle. It bolted down toward the castle, nothing able to deter its path of destruction. That was until it was hit in the face with a pillow, causing it veer off course, flapping its wind awkwardly, as it dizzily shook its head clear of confusion. "Hey, over here!" called a nervous voice below. The mythical creature looked over at Marco, who had pillows strapped around his body as make-shift armor, another pillow being used as a shield. He looked at the dragon in fear, saying in what was supposed to be a fearless tone, but his squeaky, shaky voice shattered any hope of that, "Come and get me."

The dragon, forgetting all about its main target, now flew toward the hooded teen, who stood in place for about two seconds before screaming at the top of lungs, running away from the beast and diving under the nearest bed, as the dragon sailed right over it. Marco put the pillow over his head as he waited for the dragon to leave or the twins to destroy it somehow, not sure how he had gotten himself into this mess.

What was this day, anyways? Having to go head to head with a terrifying, unrelenting beast... and now he was having to fight off a literal dragon. And right then, his old aches and pains stirred up again, reminded of the beating he had already taken that day with Higgs. But Marco knew he couldn't hide from the dragon forever, he would have to face it eventually and it wasn't real anyways, so it couldn't really hurt him... right?

Marco peaked out from under the bed, looking around for any signs of the creature, and saw it hovering just on the other side of the bed, a soft growl in its throat as it glared at him with its dozen creepy eyes. Marco chuckled sheepishly, whispering nervously, "Umm, any way of you not trying to eat me and maybe just surrender and let us win the game?"

The dragon only growled in response and Marco sighed loudly. "Yeah, thought so."

Marco dodged out of the way as the creature snapped at him, using his pillow to block its biting jaw, which resulted in it snapping up his make-shift shield and sending it flying to the other side of the room and far out of his reach.

"Uh oh, that's not good," Marco whispered in terror, before looking back up at the dragon, which now had steam coming out of its nostrils. "Oh that's even worse!" Marco yelled.

"Hang on, Marco we're coming!" Daisy yelled as her and Violet jumped across their beds. But they were too far away and the dragon was already ready to attack, taking a deep breath in. The hooded boy grabbed another pillow up from the floor and held it feebly in front of him, closing his eyes as he awaited himself to be burnt to a crisp.

But as it breathed out, instead of fire and flames shooting out its mouth, instead, small bubbles filled the air, drifting around the hooded teen and popping all around him. Marco opened his eyes and blinked once in confusion. "It breathes bubbles?" Marco muttered in disbelief.

"Well yeah, you didn't think we'd actually make it able to breath fire, did you?" Violet commented, putting her hands on her hips as she stood on her bed.

"Yeah that's way too dangerous," Daisy added from next to her. "Then mom would never let us play this game."

"So anyways," Violet said, before yelling in a commanding tone, "Do not fear, knight! For we shall save you from this horrid beast!"

"Yeah, come and get us, ugly!" Daisy added, shouting up to the still hovering dragon.

The dragon obeyed the command, rushing toward the two, who both laughed as they jumped to the next bed, avoiding the creature. It shot more bubbles at them, which the two moved out of the way of, landing safely on the floor. The dragon did a needless spin in the air, before spiraling toward the two.

The two acted quickly as they both held up their toy wand together, shouting out their spells to end the dragon.

"Flower Heart Devastation!" Daisy yelled, as Violet at the same time shouted, "Evil Death Beam!"

The two shared a surprised look, before frowning at one another. "Violet, you were supposed to use Flower Heart Devastation, that's my most powerful spell!" Daisy whined.

"What, no way, Evil Death Beam is way more powerful than your dumb frilly flower spell," Violet scoffed.

"It is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is Not!"

"Is too!"

Marco sighed, as the two ended up in the exact same place they had started from, arguing, all of his attempts in the end futile. He turned to stare at the dragon, as it suddenly faded from existence, the two no longer in agreement, meaning their power would no longer work. He walked over to the two, trying to think of something to say to get them to stop but nothing came to mind.

So instead he just said the only thing he could think of, which was, "Umm, girls, the dragon's gone."

The two stopped their arguing as they turned to see that it was in fact gone, before frowning at each other again. "Great now you ruined our game with big brother," Daisy huffed angrily.

"No you did!" Violet shouted.

"Come on, guys. Please don't fight," Marco tried, his voice desperate. "You two are sisters, you shouldn't be fighting."

Daisy and Violet turned to Marco in confusion, Daisy quickly exclaiming, "But Violet messed up our game."

"She wasn't messing it up," Marco spoke up. "She just had a different way of playing. That doesn't mean she ruined things." The two went quiet at that and so Marco decided to try and take it a step further. "Now you two should apologized to each other for arguing," Marco added, in the most authoritative tone he could.

The two hesitated doing so for a moment though, Daisy kicking her foot against the floor, while Violet just stared at the far wall with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Umm, sorry for blaming you for stuff," Daisy muttered sheepishly, rubbing at her arm, still not looking in her sister's direction.

"And I'm sorry for calling your spell dumb," Violet added, even softer than her twin had, Marco barely able to pick up on the small voice.

The boy nodded happily, trying to replicate his voice to sound like Buff Frog as he said, "Now you two hug and make up."

The twins obeyed, pulling each other into a very awkward sibling hug, but Marco was satisfied that the two had seemed to of made up. Or weren't fighting still, at least. "There, now that's much better," he praised the two, as they pulled apart. But the two still looked upset, refusing to meet his eye and staring sulkingly at their feet.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Marco asked in concern.

"Sorry for ruining your first game of Dragon Attack, big brother," Violet said woefully, looking near to the brink of tears.

"Yeah, we just wanted you to have fun, but we didn't even get to finish it," Daisy said pitifully.

Marco gave them a sympathetic smile, before opening his arms wide to them. "Come here," he said and the two rushed to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around the two, holding them tightly. "It's okay, girls, I still had fun. Besides, I'm kinda not really a big fan of Dragon Attack, it's a bit more intense than I like."

The two girls giggled, as Marco gently ruffled their hair, "Maybe next time we can play something a little less life-threatening."

"Oooh, like a board game!" Daisy suggested cheerily. "We still have a copy of Magical Chutes and Ladders!"

"Or Castle Defenders!" Violet proposed.

"Sounds good," Marco agreed.

Suddenly, there was a loud growl from the peach-haired girl's stomach, everyone turning to her in surprise. "Ugh, beating up dragons made me reeaaally hungry," she groaned rubbing at her rumbling tummy.

Marco laughed, before saying cheerfully, "Well then let's go and get you two something to eat."

The two cheered, each taking one of the boy's hands as he led them out of their room and into the hallway, the two practically skipping with every step.

"And then maybe we can get you some tea," Daisy suggested and Marco shrugged.

"I don't know, we'll have to see," the hooded teen said.

The two walked in silence for a moment, before Violet spoke up. "Um, big brother," she said, hesitantly.

"Yeah," Marco said.

"How come you never got to drink tea or play games with other kids before?" the dark-haired girl asked, looking up at him with curious eyes. Marco froze at the question, as a rush of memories flooded his system.

"Um, well.." he started, not sure what to say to the two. How much should he tell them? He didn't want to scare them with talk about Master Toffee, they were still a little young to hear about that?Plus, Marco wasn't too sure he was really ready to talk about that, anyways. It was still pretty painful.

"Were your parents really mean or something?" the peach-haired girl added.

"Well, no not really," Marco said, trying to keep his voice calm and hide the aching he felt in every fiber of his being. "My real parents died when I was baby. I was actually raised by Monsters."

Violet suddenly gasped, as she let go of his hand and instead grabbed onto the boy's arm, shaking him violently, causing poor Marco to cry out in pain, his body still sore from Higgs' training. "You were raised by Monsters!"

"Owwww!" Marco yelped, as he was helplessly flung back and forth. He was thankful when the young girl finally stopped her senseless shaking, though still clinging tightly onto his arm, now standing on her tiptoes as she just gave him an eager look, waiting for him to respond. "Uh yeah, Buff Frog and some other Monsters raised me after my parents died," Marco explained, letting go of Daisy's hand so he could rub at his now aching neck, the hooded teen pretty sure the shaking had caused him to pull a muscle.

Violet screamed at the top of her lungs, unable to contain her excitement anymore and Marco quickly covered his now-ringing ears. "I can't believe it! You've met a real life Monster! That's been my dream! What do they look like?" Marco opened his mouth to answer, but the girl continued to throw out question after question with no sign of stopping. "Can they do dark magic? Cause see I heard one time that they could do dark magic even though it's forbidden. Did they ever try to use dark magic on you? Or maybe they tried to eat you? Do they eat Mewmans?!"

"What, no of course they don't!" Marco quickly exclaimed, horrified that the young girl could even suggest such a thing. "Monsters are actually really nice." Marco paused for a second biting his lip, as a pair of sinister yellow eyes flashed into his mind and he nearly shuddered. "Well some of them may be bad," he corrected himself. "But they definitely don't eat people. And as far as I know they can't do dark magic"

"Oh," Violet said sadly, clearly disappointed. But her hopes rose once again as she asked, "Well, are there any Monsters in the castle that I could meet?"

"I hope not," Daisy muttered, her eyes wide in fear. She was afraid of Monsters, all the stories about them eating children making her quite frightful. Violet often would tease her, telling her that if she wasn't careful the Monsters might gobble her up while she was sleeping.

"No, there aren't any Monsters here right now," Marco said, shaking his head. Both Daisy and Violet sighed in unison, but the older twin was sighing in relief, while the younger was sighing in disappointment. "But maybe if your mom is okay with it, I can take you to meet my family the next time I go visit them."

"Really?" Violet exclaimed, while Daisy looked terrified again. She quickly hide herself in Marco's side, the hooded teen looking down at her in surprise.

"No, I don't want to meet any Monsters," she squeaked timidly, her small form shaking like a leaf and her tone muffled with her face buried in Marco's hood. "They're scary. They'll gobble me up and make me into a big Mewman stew!"

Marco looked down at her sadly. He couldn't believe such a young, innocent child could be so terror-stricken by the creatures that had raised him. What kind of messed up world did they live in if the children were instilled with so much fear at just the mere mention of the Monsters? There was still so much that needed to be undone before Mewni could be made right. "No Monster is going to eat you, I promise," he said softly, wrapping a tender arm around the girl.

"Yeah, Daisy don't you remember what mom told us, the Monsters aren't bad anymore, we all made up," Violet pitched in helpfully.

"In fact, right now Star, your mom and I are working on making a peace commission," Marco added.

Daisy, finally lifted her head up, staring into Marco's brown eyes with shining pupils. "What's that?" the young girl asked, cocking her head cutely to the side.

"Duh, weren't you even listening before. It's something Star made up so that the Monsters and Mewmans won't fight anymore."

"So the Monsters aren't bad now?" Daisy asked, nervously.

"No, most of them are really good," Marco reassured the girl, patting her back softly. "And the ones that aren't, my dad, Buff Frog, is going to stop them from hurting anyone. He's the leader of the Monsters, y'know."

"Is he gonna eat any of the bad Monsters?" Violet asked, innocently.

"No!" Marco quickly corrected her in a flash. "He's not gonna eat anyone."

Daisy sniffed, wiping her eyes with her arm, looking less scared than she was before as she asked, "Your dad is the leader?"

Marco nodded. "That's right."

"So are you like a prince?"

Marco's eyes widened. "Umm, I'm not really sure. I mean, Buff Frog isn't really a king or anything..." the hooded teens voice drifted off, as a million new questions swirled around his head. He made a mental note to call his dad later and ask.

"Well if you were a prince than that means you and Star could have an arranged marriage," Violet said, as the two continued down the hallway. "That's what some royal couples do sometimes."

"Maybe, we'll see," Marco said casually. In reality, though, he had no idea what that meant, but didn't want to admit it to the two. He just made another mental note to ask Star about it later.

…

"Okay..." Star said tiredly. "I think that's a good stopping point for the day."

She looked around her room with bleary eyes. They had made significant progress, so far, a large chunk of the paperwork finished. They had had to sort through it all, putting it into their proper stacks, before signing and filling out the most important one's first. Luckily, Aunt Lily had known which ones those were and that helped Star out a lot. With those done, they could at least get fully certified from the MHC, while they filled out the rest. So that was at least one problem down for the day.

The blond royal sighed, massaging her eyelids with her palms, thick bags now hanging under her normally bright blue irises. Jackie and Aunt Lily didn't look much better, the skater, leaning far back in the chair she was in, looking on the brink of falling asleep. Lily looked a bit more composed, sitting up straight on Star's couch, but her hair was frazzled in places and her eyes drooped with exhaustion. Suddenly, a voice out of nowhere spoke up, startling the group.

"Huh, it says here that if you cut off a mermaid's tail that you can never be queen, isn't that interesting?" Star and the others turned in shock to see Janna laying on Star's bed, examining one of the papers closely, looking comfortable and relaxed.

"Janna, how long have you been there?!" Star demanded angrily, putting her hands on her hips.

"Mmm, about two hours I'd say," the creepy girl replied nonchalantly. "Man, there are some weird rules in here."

"And you never thought about maybe helping us out," Jackie questioned her roommate in obvious annoyance.

"Of course I did. I just didn't want to," Janna replied calmly, not even looking away from the paper. "Did you know that if you refuse to eat corn offered to you by a member of the MHC that you can be sentenced to up to 2,000 years in crystal?"

Star let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand slowly down her face. "No, I didn't know that," Star said in exasperation.

"I also wasn't aware of that," Lily piped up, sounding quite cheerful.

"Well, now you do, your welcome," Janna said, before throwing the paper away, letting it fall randomly to the floor, not even bothering with their carefully planned out filing system. Star's eye twitched, before she covered her head in her hands, letting out a frustrated groan. Normally Janna's behavior didn't bother her, but she was too tired and frustrated right now to simply shrug it off.

Jackie put a hand on the blond's shoulder, telling her, "You know how she is. It's best just to ignore her."

Star let out a deep sigh, releasing all her stress and anger. "Let's just... go get something to eat," the blond royal said, deciding to take Jackie's advice.

"Sounds great," Janna said, rising from the bed and walking over to the door. She looked back at them with a smirking grin, saying, "Well, hurry up, slowpokes. Before it gets cold."

Star growled in annoyance and both Jackie and Aunt Lily put a hand on either shoulder, giving her consoling looks. Jackie opened her mouth, but Star quickly said, "I know, I know. Just ignore her."

…

The four were just passing by the kitchen on the way to the dining hall when Jackie heard giggles coming from inside the kitchen area. The skater stopped and said to the others, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Star questioned, giving her a confused look.

That's when they all heard the small and familiar giggles echoing around the room, along with a much older sounding one, that Star recognized in a second. "Marco?" she said.

This was confirmed a second later as they all heard the clear voice of none other than Marco Diaz. "Are you two sure your mom lets you eat this much chocolate?" his muted voice asked.

"Positive," the voice of little Daisy replied.

"Yeah, don't worry so much, big brother," Violet said a second later.

"Okay, if your sure," Marco replied, though he himself sounded slightly unsure still.

"Did he say chocolate?" Lily asked in concern. She knew all too well what too much sugar could do to her daughters.

"Oh Marco," Star sighed.

Lily quickly rushed over to the door, the three teens right behind her. She threw the door open to reveal Marco and the twins on the floor of the kitchen, a bowl of chocolate pudding between them, being shared by all of them. Everything around them was covered in the substance, including them, chocolate on their faces, clothes, and hair. They all froze when they saw the group enter, Marco in shock and Daisy and Violet in alarm. Their faces both switched to guilt and regret as they threw their spoons of pudding back in the bowl in Marco's lap and tried their best to hide behind the hooded teen.

"Um, hey guys," Marco said in uncertainty seeing the looks on their faces. "What's up?"

"Oh Marco," Star sighed again, her heart going out to him. Her sweet, naive gullible bestie. By the looks of it, it was obvious that her mischievous cousins had tricked her poor, innocent boyfriend into breaking the rules.

It seemed her aunt had realized the same as she asked in a scolding tone, "Daisy, Violet, did you trick this young boy into giving you chocolate?"

"Ummmm..." they both said, unsure how to answer.

"Nice," Janna said in appreciation of the two's level of skill. Jackie shot her a glare to let her know to keep her mouth shut.

"You know your not supposed to have any sugar before dinner," Lily continued.

Marco just watched the situation progressing in confusion, looking quite uncomfortable being caught in the middle of whatever this was and Star gave him a sympathetic look.

"Sorry mom," the two muttered, lowering their head in shame.

Marco's eyes instantly widened in realization and he shot to his feet, causing the bowl of pudding to tumble over, landing face-down creating an even larger mess on the floor. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, ma'am," the hooded boy shouted, looking panicked. He shifted hesitantly for a moment, debating on if she offer his hand or bow, sweat beginning to surface on his face over the difficult decision. Finally, he dropped into a late bow, saying in the most remorseful tone he could, "I had no idea... I mean, if I had known I never would have..."

"That's quite all right, young man," Lily interrupted, before the boy could continue stumbling out an apology. "This is on my daughters, not you." She gave them a scolding glare and they both shifted nervously on their feet. She turned back to the boy, adding, "I'm sorry they roped you into their little scheme."

"Oh no, they didn't have any rope," Marco replied, innocently.

Star, Jackie and Janna all smiled at the boy, shaking their heads at his naivety. Lily raised an eyebrow for a second, before turning to Star. "So I'm assuming this is the boy you told me about?"

"Yep, that would be Marco," the blond royal replied, glad she had told her aunt all about Marco's innocent and adorable tendencies while they were doing paperwork.

Lily stepped forward, before offering her hand to the still bowing Marco. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Marco. I'm Lily Butterfly, Star's aunt. Star's told me a lot about you," she said pleasantly.

"Oh no the pleasure is all mine!" Marco replied, shaking her hand far too enthusiastically, but Lily didn't seem to mind, still just smiling warmly at the boy. "Star's told me a lot about you, too," Marco continued, still not releasing her hand. "She said your really cool and fun to be around."

"Well I try," Lily said modestly, allowing the boy to vigorously shake her hand.

Meanwhile, the twins slowly tried to creep away, tip-toeing toward the exit. But Jackie blocked off their path, looking down at them with crossed arms. "Oh no you two don't."

"Drat," Violet sighed, Daisy adding in, "Busted."

"Marco would you mind releasing my hand so that I can finish scolding my daughters," Lady Lily asked politely.

Marco blushed and obeyed, muttering a quick apology. Lily went over to Daisy and Violet, the two looking up at her with nervous frowns. "Now then, you two know that you aren't allowed to eat chocolate without my permission, right?"

The two nodded silently.

"And you also know that lying to others is wrong, as well?"

Daisy and Violet just nodded again.

"So what do you two have to say for yourselves?"

"Sorry, mom," Violet mumbled.

"Yeah, sorry," Daisy sheepishly apologized, hanging her head.

Lily let out a breath, before saying, "Very well, if you are sorry, then I will let it go this time. But I expect you two to clean up your mess."

"Yes mom," the two said in unison, though they looked relieved that their punishishment was only minor.

"And I want you to apologize to Marco, as well."

Daisy and Violet turned to Marco, saying, "Sorry, Marco."

"Good," Lily said, her tone light once again, giving the two a quick hug. She looked over to the hooded teen again, saying, "Thank you for looking after my daughters, Marco. I hope they weren't too much trouble."

Marco shook his head. "No, not at all. I had fun playing with them," he replied honestly.

"We had fun with you too, big brother," Daisy said, with a grin.

Lily looked down at her daughter. "Big brother?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that's what we're calling Marco," Violet explained.

"Why?" their mother questioned.

"Cause he's like our big brother," Daisy said, as if the answer should be obvious. "He plays with us and stuff, like a big brother is supposed to do."

"Plus, he's Star's future husband," Violet added, causing Star and Marco's cheeks to light up and Jackie and Janna's mouths to drop open.

"W-What?" Star stuttered, her mind going completely blank at the thought and her heart thumping away against her will.

Violet shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"What have you three been talking about?" Jackie asked, looking over at Marco.

Marco looked around the room, flustered. "Well, I mean, um... I didn't say we were going to get married. I just said, me and Star hadn't really... umm... I mean..." Marco's voice drifted off in embarrassment, not looking in Star's direction.

"I-It's fine, Marco," Star said, her voice cracking against her will. "I know you know were too young for that still."

"Right, of course," he said, nodding, hoping they could please change the subject now.

Janna did just that, as she approached the two girls saying, "You two squirts really need to learn how to cover your tracks better."

"Janna!" Violet exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. "It's you! I missed you!"

"Missed you, too," Janna said, patting her head softly. "So how's my young successor been doing?" She lowered her voice, whispering, "Found any new species of creepy crawlies while you were away?"

Violet tried to replicate Janna's signature smirk, coming remarkable close. "Yeah, I did. But mom took it away, after I hid it under Daisy pillow while she was sleeping."

"That's my girl," Janna said, ruffling the girl's hair.

"Great, now there's two of them," Star muttered, watching the display in annoyance and exasperation.

"They're multiplying," Jackie added in concern.

"Should we be worried?" Marco asked.

"Yes," both girls deadpanned.

Star once again changed the subject, asking Marco, "So what were you two doing in here anyways?"

But it was Daisy who answered, shouting, "We were going to make some tea for big brother to try."

Star looked at her boyfriend in confusion. "Tea?"

"Yeah, I've never had any before," Marco said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But then we saw the chocolate pudding and well... y'know."

Star laughed, leaning over and giving the boy a quick peck on the cheek. "Your adorable," she sighed, lovingly.

Marco just blushed, his throat closing up and not allowing him to reply. He felt a small tug on his hoodie and looked down to see Daisy, who whispered none too quietly up to him, "Now you say she's adorable and kiss her back."

Marco looked back at Star, nervously saying, "Um, she's adorable. I mean, your a-adorable too," He leaned in and kissed her on the lips and Star closed her eyes as she allowed it to deepen.

"Nailed it," Daisy said proudly to herself, doing a small, little fist pump in the air.

Once, the two pulled out of the breathless kiss, Star panted out, "So I guess there is only one thing left to do then."

"What's that?" Marco asked, equally short on oxygen.

…

Marco, with the rest of the gang all gathered around him, looked down at the small cup of tea that sat waiting on the large dining table, steam steadily rising from the cup. "Will that be all, Your Majesty?" the servant who had prepared and brought them the drink asked.

"Yes, thank you," Star replied kindly.

The servant bowed, before leaving the dining room, everyone's attention back on both Marco and the cup, which caused quiet a bit of embarrassment for the boy, as he stood unmoving, his face bright red. "Well go on, Marco, drink up," the blond royal encouraged and the hooded teen nodded, gently grabbing the small handle on the teacup. He lifted it slowly, making sure not to spill and being sure that his pinky was sticking out like Daisy had shown him. He seemed mesmerized by the dish, as he just watched as the liquid within swirl around from his movements, gently blowing on the cup to try and cool it down enough to drink.

Finally, Violet grew too impatient to wait any longer, yelling, "Just hurry up and drink the stupid thing!"

Marco yelped at the sudden interruption, jumping a bit and nearly spilling the drink all over the floor and himself, stumbling as he tried to quickly right the cup. Lily shot her daughter a glare, which Daisy mimicked and Violet just looked begrudgingly back at them. "What? He was taking too long," she grumbled defensively.

Once, Marco gained a steady hold on the cup, he let out a sigh, before a finger ran up his spine, causing him to scream again this time actually dropping the drink, which Star caught using her magic, lifting the wand up as she put the liquid back in the small teacup setting it back down on the table.

The hooded teen panted breathlessly from the scare, looking behind him with no surprise to see Janna smirking at him. "Janna, why did you do that?!" he asked via panicked shout.

But the creepy girl just shrugged, saying calmly, "Couldn't resist." Violet and Daisy couldn't quite stifle their giggles, covering their mouths with their hands to try and silence themselves.

Marco just turned back to his drink and lifted it up once more, this time actually bringing it to his lips as he slowly sipped on it. Daisy and Violet leaned forward a bit, both highly anticipating his reaction to the drink.

Finally, Marco lowered the cup, licking his lips, a thoughtful expression on his face. "So Marco, what do you think?" Star asked.

"It's..." Marco looked down at the small cup, trying to find a way to put it into words. "It tastes kinda different than I expected," he admitted.

"Good different," Jackie pressed.

"Yeah, I like it, it's just y'know not that great," Marco said with a shrug. "It's just sorta average I guess."

Daisy and Violet both shared a look with each other, now at a complete loss. Who had won? After all that their big brother Marco just seemed kinda indifferent. The room was quite for a moment, before Lily spoke up saying, "Well that was a bit anti-climatic, wasn't it?"

"Soooo, who wants some popcorn?" Janna suggested and the twin's hands instantly shot up.

"I do! I do!" they shouted in sync.

"Movie night in our room?" Jackie suggested and the twins cheered as one.

Star nodded, "Yeah that sounds good, thanks Jacks," After all the chaos that had been going on lately it would be good to just relax and have some down time.

"I'll go speak to the chef and have him bring it up to your room," Lady Lily said, heading toward the kitchen.

"Wait," Star said, grabbing her arm to stop her for a moment. "Aren't you going to watch it with us?"

"Of course, I will join you shortly," Lily said, smiling at her favorite niece.

"Well then let's go and get things set up," Jackie said, turning to her roommate and asking, "Do you still have that magic mirror hidden in your closet, Jan?"

Janna scoffed, before saying proudly, "Oh Jacks, I've got several."

Jackie opened her mouth to reply, before she shook her head, saying, "Not even gonna ask."

"That's probably wise."

The two headed for the door and Marco turned to Star, the two locking gaze, their hands reaching out for each other. But just then two small hand gasped onto his own. He looked down to see Daisy and Violet, holding onto him eagerly, both bouncing on the balls of their feet. "Come on, big brother, let's go!" Violet shouted, before the two began practically dragging the boy across the room and Marco laughed, as he once again allowed himself to be led out, turning back to his girlfriend with an apologetic smile.

Star shot him a look to let him know it was okay, before following after, watching with a wide smile at the adorable display. Though she had wanted to be the one to walk with Marco and spend some time with him, she was also glad to see that her cousins had taken a liking to him.

…

Later that night, after the last movie was done, the group all just sat around Jackie's bed, Star, Jackie and Janna just chatting as the credits rolled on the magic mirror. Lily just sat listening to the three, a small smile on her face. But as the girls' voices unknowingly raised some, she quickly shushed them, drawing their attention to her. "Shh, you're going to wake them," she whispered softly.

The 'them' she was talking about was none other than, Marco, Daisy and Violet, lay fast asleep, the two girls cuddling close to the hooded teen, a large blue blanket drapped over them. They all snored softly, looking both peaceful and far too cute for words as they just snoozed, unaware of the world turning, looking safe and content, cuddling close there together.

Star smiled at over at the three. It was so nice to see her youngest family members and her precious Marco getting along, the two easily accepting Marco into their lives, much like she had, and that thought sent her heart fluttering, barely able to contain how cute her boyfriend looked right now. It reminded her of why she had fallen for the boy in the first place.

She slowly leaned over to the boy, giving him a soft peck on the cheek,causing him to smile in his sleep, as she said quietly, "Good night, big brother, Marco. Sweet dreams."

 **Ahh, Starco is always for the win! So, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I had a lot of fun writing Daisy and Violet's characters and making them as adorable as possible. I wanted to have some characters not just from Star Vs in my story so I thought they would make good additions to the group and having my innocent Marco interacting with two kids was too cute and idea to resist. Plus, having them fight and Marco work to resolve it was kinda to help give Marco some practice using his mediator skills. After all that is a big part of what his job will entail in the future.**

 **Just for the record though, Daisy and Violet aren't quite OC's their actually from a short Disney XD clip, called an Artist ID or Sketchbook, directed by Daron Nefcy herself! The clip is only like 15 seconds long but when I saw these two cuties I decided I wanted to feature them in my story. No names were listed for them, so I made them up and tried to create personalities based on what I gathered from the short (which I have watched at this point like a hundred times). As for their mom, Lily, she is entirely and OC and a pretty fun one. If you liked them please let me know in the comments, I wasn't sure how everyone would react to seeing these three and just hoped that everyone enjoyed reading about them as much as I did writing them.**

 **Also who do you think the MHC will assign as the member or Star's commission? I'm curious to see who you think it is. The answer will be in the next one, so you will all find out then. So until then, keep being awesome and I will see you all next time!**

 **Now for the comments:**

 **Gamelover41592- Haha, glad I threw you for a loop there. Thank you so much and don't worry both Tom and Pony Head's redemption will be soon, just got a few more things to do first! ;)**

 **Pen-Woman- Yeah, I really wanted Star's plan to be a well thought out one and the best chance at resolving the Monster problems. I actually do sorta address both Tom _and_ Pony Head in this one. Star is still weary of forgiving them, still feeling hurt over what happened before, but they will have a redemption arc in a future chapter, promise. Tom is too good a character to leave out completely... oh and also Pony. **

**brody Putnum- Thanks glad you liked it!**

 **Sugar- Thanks friend! I really tried to make sure Star's plan was well thought out as I don't see her taking any chances when it comes to fixing up Mewni at least in mine. In the show I felt like she was trying too hard to get everyone to agree with her, even though her intentions were noble you can't expect someone to change their prospective on that grand a scale overnight. So instead she is trying to gradually push for a reform, while also appealing to both sides. Though cannon Star has grown up so much in the series I think, my version just has that level of maturity and experience that cannon Star lacks, due to her time ruling.**

 **Also I just like the idea of a mature and more adult Star. It's not something that the fandom explores all that often, which isn't a bad thing in my opinion, I just wanted to try a different take. I'm enjoying the show as it is, though I know a lot of people were upset by Curse of the Blood Moon, hence why I mentioned it in the last one, some seemed pretty broken up over it at first.**

 **Oh my gosh, the JanTom bonding episode was so great! I just adore those two so much, my fingers are crossed that they get together in the end. *crosses fingers expectantly* If not, then there is always my story to look forward to, as there will be more of it later on.**

 ***on a side note: DID YOU SEE JACKIE IN THE NEWEST EPISODE?! (high-pitched squealing)***

 **Guest- Oh I'm actually not worried. I just kept seeing a lot of people were pretty broken up over the episode so I wanted to give everyone so reassurance from me that all would be alright in the end. But thank you for the thought, I'm still feeling pretty confident that Starco is endgame. They will realize their feelings, they can't hide it forever. Also, huh, as a writer I have the power to trap them in a photo booth if I wish, welp I guess I have no choice.**

 ***Star and Marco trapped in a photo booth***

 **Marco: *looking around confused* What is going on?**

 **You two are trapped in their until, you kiss and admit you like each other.**

 **Star: What are you talking about, we're already dating?!**

 **Marco: *hesitantly with a slight blush on his cheeks* I wouldn't mind kissing though... if that's alright with you, Star?**

 **Oops, wrong Star and Marco, that's my version. ^-^' Welp, regardless I still have plenty of hope for my ship to set sail soon! Starco forever!**

 **lookingforentertainment- You are so welcome! I know CotBM was a rough one, but everything will be okay in the end, promise. It's been long enough we have seen Marco's sibling now and it was absolutely worth the wait, by the way! So as I promised, here is a healing hug from yours trully... *HUGGSSS!* and now for something to help ease your pain, a short Starco drabble (my characters by the way):**

 **Star and Marco sat side by side, watching the sun set over another day on Mewni, their eyes soft and their hands intertwined with each other. The wind blew through their hair, but neither felt cold, warmed by the welcomed presence beside them. After a moment, Marco looked over at his girlfriend, watching as her face turned a beautiful shade of red from the fading twilight. Star quickly felt his eyes on her and turned to him with surprise. "What is it?" she asked, a blush beginning to lighten her cheeks, though it was impossible for Marco to tell in the low light. "What are you looking at?"**

 **Marco paused before replying, "Just Stargazing."**

 **Star laughed, shaking her head at Marco's limitless cuteness, putting an arm around the boy as she pulled him closer to her, letting his head rest on his shoulder. She kissed the top of his head saying with an affectionate sigh, "You are so adorable, Marco. Where did you hear that word?"**

 **"From one of my new books," he explained. "Is that what that word means?"**

 **Star smiled, before laying her head against his. "If that's what you think that means, than yes."**

 **The young couple stayed like that long after the sun went down and the sky filled with beautiful blinking stars... though, to Marco, none that could ever compare to his most perfect Star beside him.**

 **There you go all the sappy Starco goodness I could provide, hope you liked it!**

 **Monkey lover 911- Well I have one of them in this chapter, but stay tuned their will be more to come. And thanks for the encouragement as always!**

 **SGE8- Thanks, glad to hear it! Uhh, of course their will. JanTom is my second favorite ship and I adore these two kids together! :D**

 **D4rk Sid3- So glad to hear you enjoyed it so far! I'm quite proud of this little old story of mine and do my best to bring everyone the best story possible. Oh boy, that's hitting spoiler territory... um, well, I can't quite answer this one without giving something away for later, sorry. Still I hope you continue to read and enjoy! Here is a hug to welcome you to my story... *HUGGS!***

 **Next Chapter: 3 weeks**

 **P.S. Here are my real quick thoughts for the new SVTFOE episodes up to Gone Baby Gone:**

 ***So I'm glad we finally got to see the gang back on Earth and the Beach Day episode is my favorite so far in season 4. Just a sweet, fluffy little episode of my two dorks being the best of friends and I loved how in Britta's Tacos everyone just assumed Mariposa was Star and Marco's kid! Haha. Speaking of which, sweet baby Mari, she is too cute for words! Finally the best part of the new episodes: the return of Jackie! Ahhh! I've been waiting so long for my sweet earth girl to make her reappearance. I don't care if it's probably her last it was so good to see her again I actually squealed when she showed up on screen. And squealed again when I saw that she picked up a cool French girlfriend. Good for her, I wish her all the happiness.***


	25. The Spy We (Might) Can Trust

Chapter 24: The Spy We (Might) Can Trust

 **Hey, Stardom, Happy Starcoweek! I'm here and I've brought another long one for you all! It would have been here sooner, but my power was out due to storms. Whew, well here it is, folks, the first official chapter after Star vs. has ended. *loud sobbing fills the room* What too soon? So the show may be over, but this writer is still going strong! The Starco ship must continue to sail! No spoilers here for the new one, but you can find my thoughts at the bottom and quite a bit in the comment section since you all kept talking about it and I couldn't stop myself from ranting a bit, haha! ^V^' Speaking of which thank you all for the favorites follows and review. I'm feeling kinda spoiled at the sheer number of reviews I got, like 14 wow! I know it's because of the show ending and all but still, thank you guys so, so much! o^w^o**

 **Okay onto the chapter, I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Edit: Someone told me that I posted this with Rhomulus' name wrong :( so I fixed it. Oops my bad. Thanks Kaira B for letting me know!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all it's characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"Ughh, I can't believe how long this is taking?" Star complained, tapping her foot impatiently as she stood in the waiting room of the Magical Archives, where the Magic High Commission resided. She and Marco had been there for hours after being summoned by the MHC themselves and yet it seemed like they had been all but forgotten by the magical beings as they continued to remain on the bottom floor rather than be welcomed up like they had expected to be. "What are they even doing up there? Seriously, what is soooo much more important than our meeting. I have things to do too, y'know?"

Star looked over at Marco, who sat in one of the waiting chairs, looking around at the room with wide-eyed curiosity. He was still so used to Mewni he couldn't help but gawk anytime he was in a different dimension. But feeling Star's gaze on him, he quickly turned to his girlfriend with an apologetic look. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked.

Star sighed, before taking a seat next to her bestie. "Nothing, I'm just frustrated that their making us wait, is all," she admitted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Well they are really busy making sure the entire galaxy is running smoothly," Marco pointed out and Star smiled at him. Her bestie always found some way to see the good in people and always chose to give them the benefit of the doubt. "Just be patient, I'm sure they'll be done soon."

"Yeah, you're right, Marco." She reached out and took hold of his hand. "Thanks for coming with me, it's really nice to have you here," she said sweetly to him, before leaning over and cuddling his side.

Marco blushed, before saying, "I'm just glad you asked me to come. It's a big deal, meeting the Magic High Commission." He bit his lip, adding a bit nervously, " I just hope I don't mess it up."

Star laughed, before reassuring him, "Don't worry, Marco. I'm sure they'll love you. Just be yourself, okay?"

Marco nodded. "Okay," he agreed, trying very hard not to let his frantic brain worry and fret over every possible thing that could go wrong during the meeting or try to think of the perfect way to introduce himself. He would just take Star's advice and be himself.

Star, seeing her boyfriend perking up, rose back up from her seat, saying, "I'm just going to go check and see if they're ready for us yet."

"Then I'll come, too," Marco said, rising up from his chair and following after the blond.

The two approached the desk of the only security guard in the entire archives, for whatever reason, a yellow deer creature named Shawn. The guard spotted the two approaching and put a wide smile on his face, greeting them pleasantly, "Hello Princess Star, what can I do for you?"

Star smiled back, before saying, "We were just wondering if the Magic High Commission was ready to see us, yet?"

Shawn kept the smile on his face as he replied, "I'm sorry princess, but the commission can't see you right now. They're still busy."

 _With what_ , Star thought angrily, but didn't dare say it out loud. After all, it wasn't Shawn's fault that they were stuck there. So she tried to keep her face neutral as she pressed, "Are you sure? Cause we've been waiting for over three hours now and when they summoned us here we didn't expect to wait this long."

"I'm sorry, princess," Shawn apologized, still with the unnerving smile plastered on his face. "But your going to have to continue waiting until the commission is ready to see you. But in the meantime, you are welcome to try one of our complimentary muffins." The deer gestured over to the basket of muffins sitting on the desk beside him, all of them misshaped and gross looking.

Marco started to reach out a hand to take one, Star quickly grabbing a hold of it to stop him in the most indiscreet way she could think of. The hooded boy eyed her in confusion, but just stood with his hand in hers, as he continued to stare eagerly at the treats.

"That's okay, Shawn. Just please re-inform the commission that we are here and that we're ready to meet with them as soon as they are available," Star said.

Shawn nodded, saluting the future ruler, saying enthusiastically, "You can count on me, Princess Star."

"Thank you," Star replied, before going back over to her seat, the frown returning the second her back was to the guard.

Marco stood where he was for a moment, watching his bestie, before turning back to Shawn. "I'd like one of those muffins, please," he asked nicely.

"Help yourself," Shawn said and Marco took one, before going back over to join his girlfriend.

Star watched Marco as he approached and took the seat next to her, cautiously keeping an eye on the muffin in the boy's hands. The hooded boy licked his lips and slowly brought the treat closer to his mouth, until the blond put a hand on his, stopping him before he could take a bite. The boy looked over at her in shock and Star shook her head, telling him, "Marco, trust me on this, you don't want to eat that."

"Why?" Marco asked.

"Well according to the rumors, the last person who ate one of those ended up with food poisoning and couldn't hold food down for a week. It was not pretty," Star whispered and Marco's eyes widened in fear. He looked around for a place to stash the muffin until deciding to hide it in the pocket of his hoodie, keeping an eye on Shawn in case he looked that way. He didn't want to hurt the guard's feelings, since he had been the one who had asked for one in the first place, after all.

Once he was done storing the inedible snack away until he could throw it away later, he sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair, trying to relax while they waited for the commission to give the okay to send them up. "Your Majesty," a voice suddenly sounded out of nowhere from right beside Marco, causing the hooded teen to scream in fright and bolt upright in his chair once more, nearly tipping the whole thing over. Star instinctively grabbed onto her boyfriend by the back of his hood, making sure he didn't tumble to the floor, before pulling him back into his seat.

Once Marco was sitting properly in the seat once again, both Star and Marco looked beside them to see Shawn staring at them with a wide, but somehow emotionless smile, which both found quite unnerving.

"Wait, how did you-" Marco started to say, looking over to the desk he had just seen the guard sitting at, then back to the figure now standing beside him.

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to startle you," Shawn said impassively, the smile never leaving and his unblinking gaze never shifting away from the two. The hooded boy continued to gaze back and forth in confusion trying to figure out how this deer man had moved so fast without them noticing.

Star, on the other hand, knew to dismiss this weird behavior to save herself from a headache, instead calmly telling him, "That's okay, no harm done. Right Marco?"

The blond looked over to her boyfriend who still looked quite puzzled but was quickly giving up on an explanation he knew he wasn't going to get. "Uhh, right."

"What were you going to tell us?" Star asked, hoping it was good news.

"The Magic High Commission is ready to see you, now," Shawn said around his plastered on grin, causing Star and Marco to gasp in excitement and jump out of their seats, Star even exclaiming, "Finally!"

The two ran toward the elevator, until Shawn suddenly held a hand up in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. "Hold on a moment, please," he said. "First you'll need to get through security check-up."

Star and Marco turned to the seats behind them, which were now empty before looking back at Shawn, who had somehow gotten in front of them. "How do you keep doing that?" Marco asked and Shawn gave him a baffled look.

"Do what?"

Marco opened his mouth to reply, but seeing how perplexed Shawn seemed, instead simply shook his head, saying hesitantly, "N-Never mind."

"Okay then," Shawn said, in a very chipper voice, as he pulled out a clipboard from seemingly nowhere. "Now, are either of you carrying any magical items or contraband." This was when Star and Marco noticed the sign on the floor, stating, 'No magic beyond this point.'

So the two decided to cooperate, Marco pointed at Star, who raised one hand and held out her wand for Shawn to see with her other. "Um, just my wand," she said slowly.

Shawn nodded, writing something down on the clipboard. He looked back up to Star telling her nicely, "I'll need you to leave that here." He pointed over to where a box suddenly appeared, filled with strange magical items of all shapes and sizes. She hesitated, feeling a little unsure about leaving the most prized heirloom in Mewni and the most important possession of her family's legacy to be left with some strange deer-man. But, seeing no other alternative, decided to obey.

"All right," Star agreed, looking into the box, trying to find the best place to leave it, not wanting it to get damaged by any of the other magical items while it was left in there. Finally, she set it down gently next to a strange bell-looking thing, which gleamed with magical energy itself, but otherwise looked relatively harmless.

"Now, I just need you to step through, please," Shawn continued, still looking down at his clipboard as he waited for Star and Marco to walk through a magical detection gate that again hadn't been there a moment before. Marco looked at the glowing and blinking doorway with uncertainty, before shifting his gaze to Star, his eyes cutely pleading with her not to make him pass through alone. Star smiled before taking his hand, leading her bestie through the gate, right by her side.

Marco closed his eyes as they passed through and squeezed Star's hand tight, as if expecting it to shock him or harm him in some way, but once they had made it safely to the other side, his brown orbs opened once more, blinking a few times in shock, before the hooded teen's whole body visibly relaxed. He looked sheepishly over at Star, softly saying, "Well, that wasn't so bad."

Star just smiled at the boy, holding in her laughter, as they continued their way over to the elevators. The blond pressed the "up" button, the two only waiting a few seconds before the doors opened, revealing Shawn, standing inside, that same far-too-wide smile on his face. "Hello, Your Majesty, which floor?" he asked pleasantly.

Star and Marco shared a look, but didn't question how the deer man could possibly be inside the elevator and didn't even bother turning around to check and see if he was somehow still behind them, knowing he couldn't possibly be. So instead the young couple just shrugged, before stepping into the elevator, both saying at the same time, "Top floor, please."

The ride was a short one, but to Star and Marco it felt like an eternity. The elevator was dead quiet, only the slight hum from the machine providing any form of sound within, which quite upset Star. Seriously, one of the most powerful groups in the multiverse and they couldn't even put some elevator music in their "magical" elevator, something most _human_ elevators would provide. And in the unnerving silence, Star couldn't help but feel her anxiety beginning to plague her some, her heart rate elevating with every floor. After all, this would be the very first time she had even met with the MHC by herself. Sure she had Marco, but every time before she had been accompanying her mom, this time Marco was accompanying _her_. She had never really even spoke to the commission before as far as she could recall, only Glossaryk and she wasn't sure how much he really counted. Now she was mere seconds away from standing in front of the most powerful group of magical beings in the galaxy. She really wished the ride would just hurry up, before her nerves got the better of her... or Marco for that matter.

If Star was feeling anxious she wasn't sure she could comprehend what her insecure and often shy-natured bestie was feeling. That was when she picked up on Marco's labored breathing, the boy trying to take in deep, shaky breaths to calm himself, but seemed to be failing to do so. She looked over at him and felt her heart clench at how panicked he looked. His face had paled, a look of dread on his scrunched up face, as well as a grimace that seemed to be his attempt to mask his fear and doubt. Sweat was beginning to drip down his face, as his skin started to turn a near sickly color. The poor thing, he looked like he was about to puke.

"Hey," Star said to him in the most calm voice she could and waited until Marco's nervous gaze fell upon her. "Remember just be you, okay?"

Marco swallowed, the muscles in his face relaxing some and his color returning a little, as he just nodded. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance, but could offer him no more encouragement as a ding in the elevator sounded and the machine lurched slightly in warning, before the doors opened up wide, revealing the large chamber where the Magic High Commission were already sat waiting. Star reluctantly let go of Marco's hand, immediately missing the warmth and strength it provided her.

"Here we go," Star muttered, taking a single relaxing breath, before putting up the best royal mask possible, as she stepped regally and defiantly into the room. She felt Marco's presence next to her and she felt a mixture of pride and relief that he had followed in after her with zero hesitation. Star made sure to keep her gaze level with at least one member at all times, which was hard to do, since their seats stood several feet above the ground, making it so they literally towered over the two in an intimidating manner.

The two stopped in the center of the room, now practically surrounded on all sides by the MHC. "You wished to meet with us today, Magic High Commission?" Star asked politely.

"Actually, we stated we wished to meet with you," Heckapoo spoke up, hers arms crossed in front of her chest, giving Star an accusing look. "We never permitted you to bring along a friend." Everyone's attention shifted to Marco, who flinched but continued to stand tall at Star's side.

"Yes this is a sacred temple, only a select number of people should be permitted inside," Omintraxous added.

"This isn't just a friend," Star explained, trying to keep the contempt out of her voice. "This is one of my fellow members, the representative of the Monsters."

"Ah-ha, so your the one we've been hearing about, huh?" Rhombuls suddenly shouted, his voice full of disgust and hate, as he pointed one of his snake hands at the boy accusingly.

Star was about to speak up for her boyfriend, but to her surprise, it was Marco who spoke, his voice sounding much stronger than the blond royal was expecting, "Yeah, that's me. My name's Marco D-"

"Your the one who was raised by Toffee, right!" Rhombuls continued, his beady eyes narrowing on the boy's form.

"Well, sorta..." Marco hesitantly responded. "It was more like he let me live, while Buff Frog and the rest of the Monsters actually took care of me."

"Well I'm onto you, Monster spy," the magical being continued., slamming a hand down on his seat, menacingly. "And once I catch you in the act, I'm gonna freeze you in a crystal so strong no one will ever be able to get you out."

Marco shuddered at this, looking quite frightened by the threat and Star quickly jumped to his defense, forgetting who she was in the presence of for a moment. "Hey, don't threaten my boyfriend!" Star shouted up at Rhombuls. "He hasn't done anything wrong! In fact, he's the whole reason the Monsters aren't fighting us anymore. If anything, you should be showing him some gratitude instead of treating him like a common criminal!"

"Oh yeah, well-"

"Hey, knock it off, Rhombuls, or you go in the time-out corner again," Heckapoo scolded her fellow member, who looked at her in frustration.

"But-"

"I said no," Heckapoo interrupted again, a finality to her tone. "You can't freeze Star's boyfriend in crystal." This did finally silence Rubilax from further arguments, though it didn't stop him from grumbling to himself. Marco sighed in relief and Star relaxed as well, her protective rage ending now that she knew Marco was no longer in any danger.

"And as for you," Heckapoo suddenly said, turning to Star with a look of anger. "We will permit Marco to remain here, but if you speak to any one of us in such a manner again, no matter the reason, both you _and_ your boyfriend will be removed from this dimension. Don't forget, you are only here because we have given you permission to do so, and we can just as easily take that away from you. Am I clear?"

Star felt her anger burst a bit, but held her tongue, reminding herself she needed to remain on their good side. Not to mention she couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated as the magical being continued to glare her way, waiting for a response. "Right, sorry. Won't happen again," she apologized, bowing her head in submission.

"Good." Heckapoo said, satisfied that she had gained control back over the meeting. She then cleared her throat and began again, "Now then, the reason we summoned you here, Princess Star Butterfly, as I'm sure you probably guessed, was to discuss your peace commission, whatever it was called."

Leckmet's bleating suddenly sounded, as every person in the room heard a voice in their head saying, "The Mewman Monster Peace Commission." Marco looked quite startled by this, looking around him to see where the voice could be coming from, but no one else seemed to notice.

Heckapoo raised a critical eyebrow. "Really that's what your calling it?" she said with a scoff. "Couldn't have come up with any better name?"

 _Coming from the Magic High Commission_ , Star thought to herself, but made sure not to let her contempt show. "We just wanted something simple and plain, something people could remember easy," the blond explained.

"Yeah, okay but, maybe you could have come up with something with a bit more flair. That name just sounds kinda dull."

Lekmet gave a quick bleat, which managed to snap Heckapoo out of her critiquing, as she returned focus back to the matter at hand. "Oh right, well regardless of the name, your commission is going to be starting up soon, correct?"

Star nodded. "Yes, I already gave you the proper paperwork you requested just the other day," the blond royal said.

"Well, then that just leaves which of us will be set to join your commission as an act of good faith.." Star mentally scoffed. _An act of good faith? Yeah right. More like an act of mistrust._ "And after much deliberation," Heckapoo continued, interrupting Star's thoughts and snapping her back into the moment. "The member we have chosen..." This was it, the success of her commission depended on the council's decision. Everything from this moment on would decide the fate of Mewni. "...is..." Star held her breath and mentally crossed her fingers. Though she wasn't sure why. She was still trying to decide which of them would be the least destructive to join. Who was she hoping she became stuck with? Her eyes scanning the room once, though none of them seemed all that promising of candidates.

Heckapoo clearly disapproved of her commission and the Keeper of the Scissors was sure to do everything in her power to see it destroyed. She could easily make life for Star quite difficult. Star really hoped it wasn't her. Omnitraxus wasn't any better, he too seemed to dislike Monsters and had pretty much said so. She doubted he would be doing anything in the way of helping build trust and good relations with Monster kind. And the farther away Rubilax stayed from Marco the better. That just left Lekmet or...

"...Glossaryk."

Star reeled back in shock from that line, blinking in confusion. "Glossaryk?" Star asked, making sure she had heard the Keeper of the Scissors correctly.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Heckapoo asked crossly, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not at all," Star quickly piped up, her voice squeaking a little. This almost seemed a little too good to be true, out of all the members Glossaryk was the absolute best possible one. After all, he was the one who had given Star the idea in the first place. He didn't seem to have any affiliation with the other MHC so it was unlikely he would try and ruin Star's plans or report back to them anything condemning. But she couldn't let them see her joy, so immediately hid it, clearing her throat before saying in a much more dignified tone, "We would be honored to accept any of the members of the Magic High Commission."

"Well that is excellent to hear, because he is ready to get started right away," Omnitraxus said.

Star's eyes widened at that. "Wait, now?" she questioned. "But the commission isn't even ready yet."

"Which is why we will be sending him to help you get set up," Heckapoo clarified, though Star almost heard a hint of a snicker in her tone, which was a little puzzling to Star.

But before she could question the meaning for this further, she felt a tap on her shoulder, before Marco leaned in closer to her. "Who's Glossaryk?" the hooded teen asked in a whisper.

"Why that would be me," Glossaryk replied, suddenly floating between the young couple and they both reeled back with a shout.

"Where did you come from?" Marco asked in shock.

"I've been sleeping in your hood this whole time," the small blue man explained and Marco looked suddenly creeped out, as he felt the inside of his hoodie, his face paling as he felt a sticky substance within. "Uhh," Marco shouted in disgust, looking down on the brown substance on his hand.

"Oh yes, sorry about the mess, I was eating pudding and with all your moving around I wasn't able to keep myself from spilling it."

"Glossaryk," Heckapoo suddenly said, drawing his attention onto her. Glossaryk regarded his fellow members with the same level of disinterest as usual, which led her to ask suspiciously, "You do remember your purpose and mission that we discussed."

"Please I was here at the dawning of time itself and created every single one of you and this commission, I think I can handle a simple task such as this," the magical being said, though his monotone voice was anything but convincing.

However, Heckapoo just nodded and said to Star, "Very good, then we leave this in your capable hands, Star Butterfly." As the blond felt their attention return to her, she bowed, Marco doing the same.

"I-" Star cut herself off, quickly correcting herself. " _We_ won't let you down." She gave her boyfriend a small smile, which he eagerly returned.

"Very good," Heckapoo replied, all formalities, no hint of hostility in her tone. "Than I guess we have nothing left to discuss."

Before either Star or Marco could say anything more, Glossaryk began floating toward the elevator doors. "Well since we're finished then we should hurry and head downstairs, I want to help myself to some of Shawn's muffins before he throws them away."

Star and Marco shrugged and started to follow after, when a bunch of heavy bags landed on top of them, crushing them both under its massive weight. "Oh and do me a favor and carry those for me, would you."

"Sure thing," Star called back in a strained tone, trying and failing to sit up and push the dead weight off of her back. After several moments of struggling, the young couple finally managed to haul themselves out from under the bags, they began dragging them toward the elevators, grunting and groaning as they fought against the luggage's heavy weight, the going agonizingly slow. The commission watched this whole display with blank looks, waiting until the doors to the elevator shut, sealing the princess and her boyfriend from earshot, as Heckapoo let out a loud laugh. "Ha, well that went off without a hitch," she chuckled darkly to herself, moving so she was sitting sideways in her chair, relaxing her posture now that they were alone.

"I don't know, I still think I should have gone to oversee things," Omnitraxus spoke up, not sure this plan of theirs was a good one. "You know Glossaryk. He's not loyal to us in the slightest."

Heckapoo scoffed. "Glossaryk isn't loyal to anyone and that includes Star," Heckapoo pointed out. "Seriously we already discussed this. This plan of mine is perfect." Heckapoo smiled to herself at her genius, before continuing to brag. "Sure he may not help create a Monster free world or anything like that, but we all know what a pain that little blue man can be. And now he can go and be a nuisance to Star and we don't have to deal what that little pest anymore, it's a win-win."

Rhombuls laughed. "Ha, yeah, no more Glossaryk! This is the best day ever!" the crystal man declared, throwing his snake arms up as he cheered. He and Glossaryk had a very rocky relationship, the magical being often provoking and making fun of Rhombuls just to anger him and see him punished. The crystal man despised Glossaryk and now he didn't have to deal with him ever again.

"We should throw a pizza party to celebrate!" Heckapoo shouted in joy, and the others all cheered in agreement. All but Lekmet, who were still watching the elevator doors in solace. He had been the only one to vote against this crazy plan, but had been easily outvoted by the others. He didn't like the idea of pawning off Glossaryk to the future queen just because they disagreed with her ideals. It felt wrong and petty. But there was nothing he could do about it now, he was forced to just go along with it, silently holding his tongue. After all, what was done was done, it was not his place to disagree with the younger, more immature members. He just hoped Star and her friends could handle Glossaryk and all his mysterious, self-indulgent ways.

…

Jackie and Janna were sitting and playing a card game together as they waited for Star and Marco to get back from their meeting with the MHC, when they heard the familiar sounds of Star and Marco. They quickly abandoned their game and ran to go greet their friends."Hey, guys welcome ba-"

Jackie's greeting froze on her lips, as she and Janna took in the strange scene before them. A small blue man with an unreadable expression hovered in the air, his lazy, triangular eyes drifting around the castle in disinterest, while behind him, Star and Marco, as well as several guards were struggling to pull a large set of bags through the castle, all of them straining as they fought the massive weight.

"Hey Jacks," Marco panted out in greeting, giving her a tired wave. "You maybe want to help us with this luggage, please?"

"Yeah sure thing," Jackie replied, racing over to help, not that it did much good, the bags were still unbearably heavy. Janna didn't move to help, just walking behind the others, watching their slow progress, but none of her friends argued. Although Janna's Monster strength would be welcomed, they couldn't risk the guards discovering the girl's secret.

The skater kept looking over at their floating guest in confusion, before asking, "So who's this guy?

Star, noticing introductions were in order, said in a monotone voice, "Jackie this is Glossaryk. He's the one the commission sent to help us. Glossaryk this is the earth representative, Jackie Lynn Thomas."

The skater wasn't fazed by Star's lack of enthusiasm, more thrown off by her words than her tone. "Wait, I thought the MHC wasn't going to send a member until after we got started," Jackie pointed out.

"Yeah so did we," Star mumbled.

Jackie dropped her voice to a whisper as she asked, "So is him being here a good thing or a bad thing?"

"A good thing, he's on our side," Star instantly replied. But she frowned as she thought her words over carefully. "At least I think he is," she added with a shrug.

"Think?" Jackie repeated.

"Well, he was the one who gave me the idea for the Commission in the first place, bbbuuut..." Star bit her lip, trying to think of the best way to term this. "Everything else he said was kinda... strange."

"But he'll still be on our side, though, right? Jackie questioned.

"Wellll-"

"Is it just me or do these things keep getting heavier?" Marco commented from next to them, as he strained to pull the suitcases another inch.

"It's probably just us wearing out," Star replied, through gritted teeth. She gave the bags another pull, feeling like her back was thrown out of place from the strained effort. "Okay that's it," Star said with a sigh, letting go of the bag, causing the rest of them to stumble to try and keep the thing upright, as well as prevent themselves from being crushed underneath the massive weight.

Star held out her wand to the nearest wall, preparing herself to recite the spell she had been practicing for a few days now. She had been waiting to surprise the others with it when she made a new meeting room for them, but now she saw no other way around it. "Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand!" she shouted. There was a bright flash as a bunch of glittery rainbows burst from the wand and streaked over to the wall. A second later, there was a small door in the place of where the wall once stood. "There," Star said proudly.

"Uhh and what did you just do?" Janna asked in confusion.

"I made Glossaryk a room so we didn't have to drag around his luggage anymore," Star explained. "Was that not obvious?"

"It was kinda hard to tell from the spell," Jackie admitted.

"Oh," Star said, waiting a beat before saying cheerfully, "Well then, Glossaryk why don't you go check out your room."

Glossaryk floated over to the door, snapping his fingers to open it, before hovering inside. Janna scoffed. "Show off," she mumbled, rolling her eyes. "We get it, you can do magic."

Star turned to her with a glare. "Hey be nice, don't forget he's a very important guest and-"

"Princess would you be a dear and throw away those bags for me?" Glossaryk's voice asked from within his room.

"Oh sure thing," Star called back to him immediately. She turned back to Janna, seemingly unfazed as she continued her scolding where she had left off, "...And we can't risk upsetting- wwwwait, what?!"

Star turned back to the small doorway in complete shock, her mouth agape and her eyes wide, everyone else's expressions matching hers perfectly. They could see Glossaryk inside, his back to them, surveying his new room. "Throw them away," the magical being repeated. "I'm no longer in need of them."

"B-But, aren't these your things," Marco stuttered, his own mind reeling in bewilderment.

Glossaryk slightly turned toward them, before replying nonchalantly, "Hmm, oh no, I don't own any things. Those are just a bunch of rocks."

"Rocks?" Star repeated, her brain now losing any functionality over the bizarreness of the situation.

Jackie unzipped one of the bags to check and see if the blue man was telling the truth and she wasn't all that surprised when her expectations became reality, as she far too calmly replied, "Yep, they're rocks all right."

"Wait, why did we just spend an hour carrying around a big pile of rocks?" Marco asked, looking around at the others for answers that none of them had.

"Maybe our esteemed guest would care to explain," Janna commented, her eyes frozen on the small figure and the others followed her gaze.

"Umm, Glossaryk," Star tried to ask politely. "Why did we-"

"Corn chip."

The whole room blinked, not sure where to even begin to interpret the bizarre explanation. "What does a corn chip have to do with us dragging bags full of rocks around?" Star asked.

"Nothing," Glossaryk replied, finally turning to face them. "I'm just hungry and would like some corn chips. As for why you carried around a bunch of rocks, I have no idea, I thought that was just a strange hobby of yours."

"But... you asked us to carry them?!" Marco exclaimed, looking beside himself with confusion.

"Oh, did I?" Glossaryk replied, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I don't remember that."

Star sighed, knowing this wasn't going to get them anywhere, so she simply said, in a strained tone, "I'll have one of the servants bring you a bag of corn chips and if you need anything else to make your stay more comfortable, please let us know."

She then began pushing her friends away from Glossaryk's room, leaving the poor knights to dispose of the heavy, useless bags. Once the four were back in Jackie and Janna's room and the door was slammed shut allowing them privacy and freedom to speak their mind, Janna spoke up, "So still think this guy is on our side?"

Star bit her lip, looking around at the other skeptical faces and shrugged sheepishly. "Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but he hasn't told on us to the Commission yet, so that's a start."

"He just got here," Janna reminded her.

"Yeah I know but, I don't think he would do that. He didn't seem to care all that much for the commission when we met. He's just a bit..."

"Weird," Marco supplied.

"Creepy," Jackie pitched.

"A pain," Janna added.

Star paused, before saying, "Okay, all of those. But just because he's strange doesn't mean he's a spy. He's just... eccentric."

"But how will we know if he is one?" Marco asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess," Jackie said with a shrug.

"In the meantime, I say we keep a very close eye on that guy," Janna spoke up. Jackie turned to her roommate with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when do you want to get involved in this stuff, Jan?" Jackie asked suspiciously.

Janna shrugged. "Hey, spying on a potential spy for one of the most powerful groups in the galaxy, now that is a bit more my style."

The others all shared a look with one another. "Yeah, good point," Marco said.

…

Once everything with Jackie and Janna was sorted out, Star and Marco made their way to the dining room, knowing that at this time the princess's family would most likely be eating lunch and Star wanted to inform them of what was going on. Not to mention that neither had eaten anything all morning thanks to the stupid Magic High Commission. They were greeted by cheerful chatter and small laughter echoing down the hallway and Star smiled, recognizing at least one of the voices belonged to her mother. Her mom hadn't been the happiest about Lily since she arrived, the two often butting heads (mostly caused by Lily mercilessly teasing her) but it seemed that the two were finally starting to calm down and get along, which was great news to Star, the last thing she needed right now was more drama.

Star peeked her head into the dining room, Marco doing the same, where they both saw an incredible sight: her mom, dad, and aunt sitting quietly and enjoying their lunch together. The blond royal was overjoyed that her mom and awesome aunt were finally able to eat a meal together without any conflict and Marco knowing how much both of their opinions meant to his bestie, was also quite satisfied to see everyone getting along. The two shared a look together, a knowing smile on both of their lips, before they turned back to the pleasant scene in front of them.

Lily looked over and spotted the two a second later, greeting her cheerfully, "Why hello, Star. And Marco as well, I see. We were just talking about you." Lily smiled over at Moon, who returned the gesture.

"Really?" Star said, as she approached the table and took her seat next to her aunt, Marco taking his on Star's other side.

"Yes, were talking about all the things you did when you were a baby," River spoke up, laughing as he devoured the corn on the cob he was eating.

Star flushed at that. "Oh no," she groaned face-palming, suddenly wishing Marco wasn't here. She looked over at her boyfriend and was relieved to see his attention was on his delicious tray of food rather than the conversation.

But that relief was short lived, as Lily suddenly asked the hooded teen, "Marco, did you know that Star used to steal her mother's crown and then wear it around her waist like a belt?" Lily laughed, as well as her parents.

Marco shook his head and said politely, "No, I didn't know that."

"Oh, oh, or how about the time she rode her first warnicorn, Moonpie," River spoke up, his hearty laugh infectious to all but his embarrassed daughter. "Remember that?"

"Oh yes," Moon said, smiling at the memory. "She took off and nearly made it all the way to the Forest of Certain Death if she hadn't fallen off."

"We never did find that warnicorn, though, did we?" River said, thoughtfully.

"No, we didn't," Moon replied.

"Guys, please stop," Star begged, feeling utterly humiliated.

But they all seemed to ignore her, as they continued on with their embarrassing tales. "Well, I remember when she used to call me 'Awnt Wiwy' and thought I was an actual flower and kept sniffing my hair, that was the cutest!" Lily supplied, her laugh returning.

Marco just listened in silence, smiling at this bit of information into his girlfriend's childhood.

Star, however looked mortified, sliding further and further beneath the table and burying her heated face in her palms. Finally she groaned loudly, shouting out, "Can we please talk about something else now, please?!"

Lily seemed to oblige her niece's demand, taking a sip of her tea, before asking, "Okay then, how did your meeting go, you two?"

"Oh yes," Moon said, remembering hearing about her daughter's summon earlier. "Did everything go well?" Queen Moon looked at her daughter expectantly.

"Oh well, uh, it went... okay," Star hesitantly replied, now sitting up straight in her chair again, her fingers drumming nervously on the table. She cleared her throat before adding, in a sheepish tone, "Actually that was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, what is it, my dear?" River asked in concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Sorrrtttaaa..." Star said, slowly.

"Star, just tell us," her mother commanded, though she managed to also sound encouraging as well. And that push from her mom was all Star needed. "Okay, the commission decided our newest member is going to be Glossaryk," she blurted out.

"Glossaryk?" Moon replied in shock.

"Yeah the little blue guy, that floats around in the air," Marco explained to the Butterfly family.

"We know who he is, Marco," Lily said, sounding equally as jarred as Star's mom. "I just thought he was retired."

"That's what we thought, too," Star said, stabbing her fork down on her plate in frustration. "But apparently that didn't stop the commission."

"Well, that is surprising," Moon said, before trying to sooth her daughter's nerves. "But I'm sure you'll be able to deal with it when the time comes."

Star and Marco shared a look.

"Yeah, that's the... other thing," Star said hesitantly.

"What other thing?" Moon asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.

That's when the doors to the dining room opened, revealing Glossaryk, who looked in at all the shocked faces of the room, before saying, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Glossaryk, what on Mewni are you doing here?" Moon asked and Glossaryk turned to Star.

"You didn't tell her yet about my stay?"

"No," Star said with a sigh. "I was getting to that." She turned back to her stunned relatives, saying, "Yeah so, Glossaryk is kinda staying here as our guest for a while... surprise." Star did a weak little jazz hand flourish, as she gave her mother a sheepish grin.

"I see," Moon replied, not knowing what else to say.

Lily, on the other hand, recovered much faster, as she merely smiled and said in a vibrant tone, "Ah, well then, with his help I'm sure the work will get done all the faster."

Star noticing Glossaryk still stood in the exact same place as before, asked, "Did you need something, Glossaryk?"

"No, not really, I was coming to see if you needed me for anything, princess," Glossaryk responded, dully.

"Why would I need you for anything?" Star asked.

"Because there are piggoats running loose all over the castle."

Star and Moon both instantly bolted up from their chairs. "What?!" they exclaimed.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Star added.

"You never asked."

Star huffed in frustration, while River let out a barbaric roar, "Beasts in my castle, I shall handle this at once!"

"No, wait, dad," Star quickly said, drawing their attention onto her. "You guys finish eating, I'll go take care of it." She gave Marco a quick kiss on the cheek, before following Glossaryk out of the room, yelling over her shoulder, "I'll be back soon." But she appeared back in the doorway with a glare, pointing an accusing finger at her family. "And no embarrassing stories about me while I'm gone."

The blond royal didn't wait for a response as she disappeared once more. The room was silent for a moment, before Moon spoke up again. "How did piggoats even get in here in the first place?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I fear my daughters had something to do with it," Lily said with a sigh.

It grew quiet again after that, the Butterflies and Marco just continuing their lunch in near silence. The hooded teen was beginning to feel awkward without Star there and didn't know what to say to make conversation with the powerful rulers. Luckly, it was the queen who spoke once again. "Well, Glossaryk being here will certainly be... interesting," Moon finally commented and Marco looked up from his plate.

"Star seems to trust him, but Jackie and Janna don't seem to all that much," he admitted. "What do you think?"

Moon thought over her response. "In my experience, Glossaryk is a... mystery at best. You never know what he's going to do or why he's going to do it," she finally said and Marco felt his heart sink a little.

"So, in other words, you have no idea," Marco hesitantly asked.

"Not really, no. I've known Glossaryk for years and I never understood a single thing he ever did and I don't think I ever will." Moon eyed him carefully, before asking, "What about you, Marco? How do you feel about him?"

Marco shrugged. "I don't really know yet. But if Star says we should give him a chance, then I trust her decision," the hooded teen answered and Moon gave him a soft look.

Marco went back to his lunch, poking at it absentmindedly with his fork as he thought things over. River noticed the boy's long face and decided to lighten the mood by asking, "So my boy, would you like to hear about the time Star ate broccoli for the first time and ended up throwing it all over one of the servants?"

The hooded boy's face instantly brightened as he nodded eagerly. "Yes please!" Marco cheered excitedly. Moon, however, just glared at her husband for not respecting their daughter's wishes, but it quickly faded as she became lost in the memories as well. The room filled with cheerful laughter once more, as the Butterfly clan began recounting old memories of their child to her beloved boyfriend, Marco hanging on every word as his wish to learn more about his girlfriend was filled.

...

"Shoo, shoo, get out of here!" Star cried, as she herded the last of the piggoats out of the castle, giving them a hard smack on their behinds to encourage them to get moving. The animals obeyed, racing out the doors in a near stampede and Star watched them as they headed back in the direction of the shed they were kept in, being semi-led by a pair of very grateful farmers.

Star leaned back against the wall in exhaustion, trying to catch her breath, as she looked around at the now dirty floors of her home, small muddy hoofprints everywhere. "Thank you for your help, princess," one of the servants said, giving her an appreciative smile

"No problem," Star replied, giving her a wain grin in return. "Sorry about the mess they left, though."

The servant waved her off, saying, "Oh that's all right. That we can handle."

Star nodded. "Good, then if it's alright with you, I'll think I'll be off then," she said, trying to politely excuse herself.

"Of course, You Majesty," the servant replied, her and the others bowing respectfully.

Star watched the servants starting their task for a moment, before heading back toward the dining room, saying to the small blue man, "Well thanks, Glossaryk for the warning. I really appreciate it." But as she looked beside her, she noticed that the magical being was nowhere in sight. She did a full turn, searching for any signs of him, confused where the creature could have disappeared off to so quickly, calling out to him regularly, "Glossaryk?"

Finally, she gave up and shrugged, heading off to focus on a more important task, hoping he was staying out of trouble.

...

Marco opened the door to his room and was surprised to find his light was off. That was strange, he was sure he had left it on that morning. But thinking no more of it, he flicked the light back on and closed his door. But as soon as his back was turned, he heard two small voices shout out, "Surprise!"

He screamed and turned but was knocked back against the door as he was bombarded by hugs from the twins, who tackled him, giggling the whole time. "Welcome back, big brother!" Daisy shouted, her arms wrapped around his neck, nearly chocking him.

"We missed you!" Violet yelled, her small arms wrapped around his waist. The two hung limply off of him, still laughing like crazy.

"Hey girls!" Marco cheerily replied, hugging Daisy, to try and take some pressure off of his neck. "What were you two doing in here?"

"Waiting for you, duh!" Violet said.

"Well, your mom was looking for you," Marco said, as he finally set Daisy back down, causing Violet to release her grip as well. "You two wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a bunch of piggoats getting set loose in the castle, would you?" He gave them his best scolding look, but he needed much more practice, it looking more silly than threatening.

Still, the guilty look the two shared tipped Marco off that they were, in fact, the culprits. "We might have had a little something to do with it," Daisy admitted, folding her arms behind her back, while trying to convey just how sorry she was to the boy with her bright eyes.

"Well, it wasn't right," Marco scolded. "It caused everyone a lot of trouble."

The two lowered their heads in shame, tears beginning to brim in their eyes, as they mumbled out in unison, "Sorry, big brother."

Marco couldn't take their sadness any longer, feeling his own eyes growing damp as he pulled the two girls in for a hug. "It's okay, I'm not mad, don't cry," Marco quickly said, trying everything in his power to cheer the two up.

"You don't cry either, big brother," Daisy said, pulling a little out of the hug to wipe some of the tears out of the hooded teen's eyes.

After a second, Marco swiped his arm across his face, clearing it of any more liquid. "I'm alright," he reassured her, giving her a grateful smile. "But what were you two trying to do, anyway?" Marco asked curiously.

"We were trying to make an army of piggoats!" Violet exclaimed.

"Yeah, then we could ride them into battle," Daisy continued. "Just like all the other Queens of Mewni used to do."

This sparked Marco's interest. "Wait, where'd you hear that?" Marco asked.

"In one of your books," Violet said nonchalantly.

"Huh, I guess I haven't read that one yet," Marco said thoughtfully.

"Here, we'll show you which one it is, big brother," Daisy offered, pulling on the boy's hand until he followed, the young girl leading him over to the bookshelf. She pulled off the appropriate book and handed it to the boy. Marco looked at the cover and instantly recognized it. It was a brief history of Mewni, one he had purchased just the other day from Quest Buy. When he had seen it, he had been instantly intrigued, he wanted to know more about his people, since he had known literally nothing about them up until a few months ago, and he figured learning about their past was a good way to start. But, unfortunately, he had been so busy lately he hadn't even had time to start it.

"You two read this?" Marco asked, sounding quite impressed.

The two just shrugged. "We skimmed it," Violet replied honestly. "We only really read the parts that talked about all the battles."

Daisy crossed her arms. "Well I wanted to read the part about how unicorns were first made, but Violet wouldn't listen and kept turning the pages on me," Daisy added bitterly, glaring over at her twin sister.

"Well then, maybe we should let big brother read it to us," Violet suggested.

Marco was shocked to hear this, asking, "Me?"

"Yeah, read it to us, big brother!" Daisy squealed with joy, hopping up and down in eager energy.

Marco looked down at the book once again, a picture of some queen (Marco didn't know which one) with flowing brunette hair and a beautiful yellow dress holding a wand in the shape of a clock high into the air, her cheek marks, which were hourglasses glowing bright white. This had also immediately peeked his interest when he had found it, after all, that meant this had to do with Star's family, a topic he knew surprisingly little about.

 _I do want to read it and it would keep the twins quiet and out of trouble for a while_ , he reasoned with himself. He looked up at them with a smile, as he came to his decision, saying, "Sure, why not?"

The girls cheered as Marco took a seat on the floor and the two immediately rushed over to sit next to him. The hooded teen opened up the book, looking between the two as he asked, "So what do you two want to hear about first?"

The two just shrugged. "Whatever you want, big brother," Daisy said sweetly and Violet nodded in agreement.

Well at least their getting along, Marco thought, as he began flipping through the book, looking for something that caught his eye. Then suddenly, the book began to glow and Marco screamed and frantically tossed the object away from him in fright. Marco, Daisy, and Violet watched in shocked awe as the book, began turning itself, flipping through the pages wildly, until it suddenly stopped on a certain page and a figure began to rise from the book. Marco instinctively pulling the girls closer to him in protection, fearing the worst. But instead of whatever dreaded creature Marco was expecting, only the bored, unblinking form of Glossaryk appeared.

"Glossaryk?" Marco blurted out, taken aback to see their guest there. The twins, however, were astonished by the trick, clapping their hands together in joy.

"Yay, big brother used magic to summon a tiny troll!" Daisy cheered.

"Oh, oh, do it again, Marco," Violet begged, shaking the boy's arm. "Only this time, make a yucky goo Monster that covers everything is super gross slime."

"Eww, Violet!" Daisy cried, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Marco finally recovered from his initial shock, quickly telling the excited kids, "No, no, I didn't make or summon him using any kind of magic... at least I don't think. This is one of the Magic High Commission."

"The Magic High Commission has a troll," Daisy said innocently, cocking her head cutely to the side as she observed the small blue man.

"Actually, I'm an all powerful being with complete knowledge of the universe and its dimensions," Glossaryk replied simply. "Or perhaps I _am_ a tiny troll, it's your choice," he added with an uncaring shrug.

"Cooool," the twins said as one, Violet adding, "So then can you make a yucky goo Monster?"

"Yes," Glossaryk said bluntly. "Would you like me too?"

"Yeaaaaahhh," Violet said, with a mischievous grin.

"Whoa, wait," Marco quickly interrupted, waves his arms around in a panic. "Nobody is making any goo Monsters!"

"Aww," Violet sighed in disappointment, slumping her arms and pouting to herself.

Marco ignored this, his attention fully on the small blue man, "Glossaryk, what are you doing in my book?"

Glossaryk looked down at the book below him, saying, "Well, this _was_ the biggest book I could find in the castle. Over 4000 pages, I'm impressed Marco. And it's actually quite a good read."

Marco wasn't sure what to make of that answer, his mouth hanging open for a moment, any and all words frozen on his tongue. But he shook his head free of the confusion as he again pried, "No, I mean why are you in _my_ book?"

"Well I believe I just explained it."

"Yes, I know it's a big book," Marco said tiredly, this whole conversation was giving him a headache. "What I meant was, I'm just confused why you want to be inside a book in the first place."

"Well I needed some place to live," Glossaryk said simply.

"You live inside a book?" Violet now interrupted, her curiosity peaked.

"Isn't that kinda cramped?" Daisy also asked.

"Oh no, it's quite roomy once you get rid of all unnecessary paragraphs that are cluttering up the story," Glossaryk explained.

"Oh yeah, I get that," Violet said, nodding her head in understanding.

Marco, however, was still plagued with questions, all of which were swirling around his mind out of control. But not wanting to upset the very important being, he asked in a very careful and hesitant manner, "Um, Glossaryk. Not that I mind you living in my book, but what about the room Star made for you?"

"Oh that was much too big for my liking," Glossaryk responded, suddenly eating a chili dog which had appeared out of thin air. His triangular gaze suddenly held the boy's own and Marco nearly flinched in surprise. "I hope you don't mind if I stay in here for a while."

"N-No, of course not," Marco responded immediately, giving the being a sheepish smile.

"Good," Glossaryk said with a mouthful of chili. "Then would you be so kind as to take the book into my room, I don't think either of us want me to live on your bookshelf."

Marco sighed, but nodded solemnly. He stood up, closing the book and sealing the being temporarily inside it, before tucking it under his arm and heading to the room Star had made for the being. Daisy and Violet followed after, skipping beside the boy and chattering at a mile a minute to the quiet teen.

Above them, unnoticed to anyone, a small purple bat's eyes narrowed, as she watched the scene from her upside down perch. "Interesting," she mumbled to herself.

…

"The Kingdom of the Spiderbite?"

"Princess Penelope has agreed to join us, though I don't expect her to be available for a lot of meetings, what with all the... uhh, pests they still have to deal with."

Both Star and Lily shuddered at the thought of the creepy spider creatures that plagued the land of one of their neighboring kingdoms.

"Fair enough," Lily said, checking the area off of the list she held. "And we are confirmed for Pixtopia, correct?"

Star nodded and replied enthusiastically. "Yep, it's all set up."

"The Cloud Kingdom?" Lily asked, looking up from the paper, to stare at her niece, who frowned and crossed her arms.

"Pass," she said grumpily.

Lily sighed and said, "You know your gonna have to pick her eventually."

Star threw her hands up in anger, shouting, "Pony Head has like a billion sisters, why don't we just ask one of them?"

"Because they also try to overthrow her on a daily basis and aren't exactly the most..." Lily hesitated to try and think of the right word to say. "...trustworthy bunch."

Star groaned and slid down into her chair, covering her face with her hands. "I hate it when your right," the girl replied, in annoyance.

Lily calmly set the paper down on the small pile they were working on and folded her hands in front of her. She kept a close eye on her niece, as she asked, "So I presume we're still undecided on the Underworld Kingdom as well."

Star didn't respond just looking angrily at her boots. "I'm not talking to them," she said stubbornly.

The room was silent for a moment, as Star just continued to glare at nothing and her aunt watched her wearily. Though Lily knew that Star would have to make a decision soon, she didn't want to press her on the subject. She leaned back, staring up at the ceiling as she asked instead, "So, what do you make of Glossaryk?"

Star finally met her gaze, looking surprised, but she shrugged, replying, "Honestly I don't know. I mean, I think we can trust him, but, at the same time, he's just so strange and unpredictable. I told the others he was fine, but I'm not sure if I believe myself."

Star leaned her head on her hands, her thoughts racing, as she tried to figure things out. "Something just isn't right," Star admitted, voicing her thoughts out loud. "I don't think he's a spy buutttt, the commission wouldn't have sent him here unless they had something planned."

"I agree," Lily said. "But it's not like there is much we can do about it, I suggest just keeping an open mind and a sharp eye."

Star smiled over at probably her favorite person in the family. She threw her arms around her in a hug, saying, "Thanks, Aunt Lily. I needed to get things off my chest."

The older Butterfly held her niece close, laying her head on top of the girls, as she said, "You are very welcome, Star. Anytime you need to talk, I'm here."

There was a knock on the door that drew their attention, both pulling out of the hug and turning to it. "Yes," they both said at the same time, before sharing a look and giggling.

The door opened and Jak popped his head inside, looking over at the two (or rather one) nervously, his face slightly flushed. "Uhh, Your Majesties, Glossaryk is requesting to see you," he said, fighting around the lump in his throat as he stared at the beautiful green haired woman.

Star sighed but stood, her aunt doing the same. "Okay, thanks Jak," the blond said gratefully. The two headed out the door, but not before Lily stopped directly in front of the guard and said in a flirting tone, "Oh yes, thank you so much Jak."

Before the guard could stutter out a response, Lily leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before heading after Star with a knowing smirk on her face. She never turned around, even as the guard fell across the door, letting out a lovestruck sigh.

The blond did, however, watching the entire scene and just continued to study poor Jak's face, the look of pure puppy love unmistakable. At this point nearly every guard, knight, and servant in the castle shared this look and Star knew the meaning. She turned to her aunt with a scolding expression. "Seriously is there a guy in this castle you haven't kissed?" she asked accusingly, as she now matched her aunt's pace.

"Of course there is," Lily said, sounding offended by the statement. But her tone turned more mischievous as she added, "I'm saving them for later."

Star face-palmed. "Aunt Lilly," she groaned around her hand.

Lily just laughed, before saying lightly, "Oh relax, Star. This is just my way of showing appreciation toward the hard-working men of this castle."

Star turned to her aunt with a smirk, "Yeah well, at this point, I think every guy in this castle has a crush on you."

Lily said nothing but the look in her eyes told Star that she was aware of this fact and was quite proud of it. Star just shook her head and said nothing more on the subject, instead she focused her attention on the approaching room of their guest. The door was wide open and to her surprise, Marco was staring inside the newly-constructed room.

"Marco?" Star said in surprise, before racing over to greet her boyfriend.

Marco hearing his name and instantly recognizing the familiar voice, turned to his girlfriend with a wide smile. "Hey, Star," he greeted her with a hug.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Star asked in confusion.

"Well, um, Glossaryk is apparently living inside one of my books," Marco explained, though he himself seemed a little bewildered as well. "And he asked me to carry it to his room."

"I... see," Star said, not actually seeing at all."So what's the problem?"

"The twins found out he was magic and asked him to... well, just look," the hooded teen stepped aside so his bestie could look in. Star, with a perplexed expression, looked inside the room, before her mouth dropped open in shock.

The room was now filled to the brim with pink, fluffy bunnies and some kind of creatures made of goo, the twins were covered head to toe with slime and pink hair and were staring at the floor sheepishly. Glossaryk floated over them with with an equally guilty expression and Star quickly drew her wand and shot magic at the creatures, making them all disappear in a flash of pink light.

Meanwhile, Lily gave her daughters and Glossaryk a scolding look, as she asked, "All right, which one of you did this?"

Daisy instantly pointed to Violet, Violet pointed to Glossaryk, and Glossaryk pointed to both of them. "Well in that case, you are all three grounded to your rooms for the rest of the night," Lily declared, her hands on her hips.

"Awww," all three groaned childishly.

"And, there will be further punishment to you two, Daisy, Violet, for creating a mess with those piggoats."

"How do you know that was us?" Violet asked huffily, glaring back defiantly at her mother.

"Because I do," her mom replied, matching the gaze and Violet deflated in defeat.

Lily jabbed a finger in the direction of the hallway, saying, "Bathroom, march."

The two trudged along with broken expressions, their mother following behind them. Marco watched the two go sadly, unable to keep himself from feeling bad for the two. He turned back to Star who closed the door behind her with a tired sigh. "Am I in trouble, too?" Marco asked, biting his lip cutely in worry.

Star held back the laugh that rose to her lips, taking a second to gush over how adorable the boy was. She shook her head and said, "No Marco, your not in trouble."

Marco let out a relieved sigh. "Good," he breathed, a hand to his pounding heart. "For a second there I thought you were gonna tell Buff Frog on me. I mean, I didn't help them in any way, but I couldn't really stop them from making a mess."

Star put an arm around the boy's waist, pulling him closer to her as buried her head in his shoulder, taking in his scent. Now this was what she needed to relax. "Come on, bad boy," she said teasingly. "There is a sunset with our name on it."

The two headed down the hallway with a carefree look, content just being next to each other. They walked by a large plant, not really paying it any mind as they passed. A second later, the whole thing shifted and shook as it lifted up out of its pot, revealing the dirt-smudged face of Janna, who watched the door to Glossaryk's room closely. "Hmmm," she hummed to herself thoughtfully, her eyes narrowing. The half-Monster girl looked left and right of her, making sure she wasn't spotted, before slowly lowering back into the depths of the pot, disappearing from sight.

...

The evening came and it brought with it a tranquil quiet. One that the residents of Butterfly Castle were able to enjoy for all of about ten seconds before a loud booming noise sounded in the heart of the castle, rattling the walls and sending every guard into a frenzied panic. Jackie, who had been sitting on her bed listening to her headphones, jolted up in panic and recognizing that the deafening noise had come from the room next to hers, quickly ran out the door and over to the neighboring room.

She pounded on the door, still panting from the scare as she called out in concern, "Glossaryk, are you okay?"

There was no reply and Jackie tried the knob but found it locked.

She banged on the door a few more times with her fist, her worry growing as she continued to shout, "Glossaryk? Hello? Are you in there?"

A few guards and knights appeared in the hallway, led by known other than the general herself, Skullnick, who looked as annoyed as ever. "What is going on?! What was that noise?!"

"It's Glossaryk," Jackie explained, gesturing to the locked door. "The noise came from in his room, but he won't answer."

"Step aside, I'll show you how it's done," Skullnick growled and the skater obeyed, giving a wide berth to both the door and the very angered troll. The general stormed over to the freshly made door and, without even bothering to knock, pulled out a large ax out of seemingly nowhere, much to Jackie's horror.

The light-haired girl, as well as the rest of the general's frazzled crew could only watch in fright as the general lifted the sharpened weapon high above her head, preparing herself to strike. But just as she began the swing, the door flew open and Glossaryk appeared in the doorway, watching blankly as the battle ax sailed right toward him.

"Wait!" Jackie screamed in panic, throwing herself at the general and managing to throw her aim off just enough so that she missed the powerful being, the weapon whoosing past the emotionless man. Jackie's felt something in her arm, snap from hitting the strong, muscular troll lady, but managed to suppress the cry of pain. Jackie landed on the ground hard, putting a hand to her now aching arm, but she quickly checked to make sure Glossaryk was okay and sighed in relief to see he was fine.

Skullnick was shocked and, for once, speechless as her face paled, guilt and worry flowing through her over nearly killing the highly important guest and injuring a mere child in her recklessness. "Um, I-I'm sorry," Skullnick stared, her normally strong tone wavering in fear of what the MHC member would say. "W-we couldn't get inside and-"

"Can I help you?" Glossaryk asked, as if the near-death experience had never happened.

Skullnick stood in shock for only a moment, before she recovered, quickly explaining in a far stronger tone, "Yes, we heard a-"

"Hold on a moment," Glossaryk interrupted, as he flew over to where Jackie was standing with some help from the guards, who held her in a tight grip to keep herself from falling back down. "Are you alright," the being asked, almost concern in his tone.

Jackie shrugged, shaking off the guards as she said in a calm tone, "I'm fine. I've been hurt worse from falling off my skateboard." And it was true, the initial pain from the hit far less intense from the strong, but not overwhelming throbbing that coursed through her limb.

Glossaryk nodded, before he patted her arm and floating back over to the general, who didn't look happy with being ignored.

"All right, now what were you saying?" Glossaryk asked.

"We heard a loud noise coming from your room and were coming to check on you," Skullnick explained, trying to mask her annoyance, though she didn't do a great job.

Glossaryk didn't seem to care though, as he said thoughtfully, "Ah yes, it was just a harmless explosion. Nothing to worry over."

"An explosion!" Skullnick burst out, all attempts to appear presentable flying out the window, as her anger skyrocketed. "How can you call an explosion harmless?! This castle has been through enough trouble lately without someone, even as important as you, risking everyone's safety!"

Star, who had also been following the sound of the explosion, heard the general's rant as she neared the corner, cringing at the loud tone. _Oh no, what did Glossaryk do now?_ The blond royal thought as she picked up her pace to a run. She didn't know what the peculiar being had done to anger the general but whatever it was must have been pretty bad for her to lose her composure like that. Normally, she acted really dignified around foreign dignitaries.

Once she turned the corner, Star could only grimace at the sight of Skullnick glaring just inches away from Glossaryk's face, her face turning red with anger and her fists shaking they were so tightly clenched. She quickly approached Jackie, putting an arm on her shoulder to gain her attention as she asked in a whisper, "What's going on?"

"If I knew I would tell you," Jackie replied, looking as lost as Star was.

"Well, nobody made me aware that I wasn't allowed to do that, but now that I know I will be sure to keep that in mind in the future," Glossaryk responded. This didn't seem to calm Skullnick in the slightest, but Glossaryk ignored her fuming, as he flew back over to his door, saying, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have more work to do."

Before Skullnick could respond, the door slammed shut and the general growled under her breath, "Lousy magic users. Thinking their above the rules, their worse than the Monsters."

She turned and began marching back the way she had come, shouting out an order to her men. "Come on, idiots! Let's go!"

The knights and guards all scrambled to follow after her, leaving just Jackie and Star, neither girl knowing what to make of the situation. Star sighed, looking tired. "Great, so now Skullnick is angry and fighting with Glossaryk. Just lovely," she said sarcastically.

Jackie put a hand on Star's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Skullnick's always angry, she's constantly looking for someone to get in a fight with," Jackie joked and Star smiled.

"Yeah, I guess your right," the blond responded halfheartedly. "I guess I just expected today to go differently with who I _thought_ was our ally staying here." She gestured needlessly over at the door and Jackie nodded, knowing exactly who she was talking about even without the hint.

"Yeah, fair enough. Sorry Star," Jackie apologized, pulling the girl into a comforting hug.

Star accepted it, letting the stress melt off of her in the warm embrace of her close friend. "I just really hoped he would be on our side, but I feel like he's nothing but trouble," she admitted softly.

The skater finally released Star from the hug, but kept a hand on her shoulder. "Hey it's only been a day, at least give him some time, to y'know, adjust," Jackie suggested.

"Yeah, your right, you and Aunt Lily really are too smart sometimes," Star said, sounding a bit more lighthearted and far less stressed.

"And don't you ever forget that," Jackie joked, with a mock cocky smirk and the two burst into laughter.

"Would you two mind keeping it down, some of us are trying to focus," Glossaryk's annoyed voice called from his room and the girls quickly covered their mouths to muffle their giggles.

Once they had calmed down, Star gave Jackie one of her bright smiles, and said cheerfully, "Well, I better head to bed. It's going to be another long day, tomorrow."

Jackie, glad to see her friend doing better, watched her go and waved after her. She didn't drop her arm until the girl disappeared down the hallway.

Once she had though, a realization came to Jackie with a start, as she looked down at her arm, the arm that she had injured from slamming into Skullnick, the one Glossaryk had patted a moment later. She had been so distracted that she hadn't even noticed, when he had touched her, a warmth had filled the limb and she had been able to use her arm without any problem since.

The skater turned to the guest bedroom with surprise, her mouth hanging open. But it switched to a smile, as she realized maybe Glossaryk wasn't nothing but trouble after all.

Meanwhile from a vent on the wall opposite, a pair of searching brown eyes held a binocular up to them, watching the light-haired girl's every move as she went back into her room and closed the door. "I think I have everything I need," a voice declared to no one but the spiderwebs and rats scurrying about the ventilation system she was in.

…

It was late that night, Star asleep peacefully in her bed, when the door to her room began creaking open, light flooding the area and highlighting the royal's face. The girl groaned and rolled over, her still unconscious form more annoyed by the light than anything else. A form tiptoed over, until it stood beside the blond's bed. A flashlight flicked on a second later, highlighting the intruders face, mysteriously, revealing a pair of brown eyes and fangs, the girl in full Monster form. "Star," Janna said and the princess peeped open an eye.

Star screamed in fear, as she stared at the creepy face, jumping up from her bed, grabbing her wand off her nightstand and preparing to fire. But through the added glow of her wand, she was able to recognize the creepy face as none other than Janna and she huffed in annoyance. "Janna, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" the blond royal hissed at her friend, as she dropped back down onto the soft mattress, a hand to her racing heart.

Janna made a shushing motion and Star reluctantly obeyed, as she watched the creepy girl crawl onto the bed beside her, the light flashing around the room recklessly for a moment,from it's owners jerky movements. Once she was situated Janna held the light level so it wasn't shining in their eyes, as they talked. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Star asked, keeping her voice down to a whisper. "It's the middle of the night?"

"I think I figured out who's side Glossaryk is on," Janna answered proudly, ignoring the second question altogether.

Star instantly switched from annoyed confusion to burning interest as she gripped the half-Monster girl's shoulders asking in a barely suppressed yell, "You do, how?!" The light once again bounced randomly around the room, before coming to halt.

"Okay, calm down, geez," Janna said annoyed, shrugging off the girl's surprisingly strong grip. "I've been spying on him all day, remember, and I think I've put it all together."

Star waited, with very little patience for the girl to continue, but it seemed Janna was insistent on holding for a moment in suspense, leaving the blond to prompt, "Go on."

"You know I had this whole thing planned out," Janna said in irritation. "The dramatic build up, the unexpected reveal, the works, and I don't really appreciate you messing it up."

Star leaned in closer to her friend with a commanding frown, telling her, "Just get to the point!"

"Okay fine, way to kill the suspense." Janna rolled her eyes and said dryly, "He's not on anyone's side."

Star froze, her body unmoving for a full minute, and her blue eyes unblinking, as she stared ahead at seemingly nothing. "Star?" Janna questioned, waving a hand in front of her face, getting no response. Finally, the teen did the only thing she could think of, shining the flashlight directly into Star's face.

"Ow, Janna!" Star screamed, rubbing at her eyes, spots filling her vision, as she was rendered temporarily blind.

"And see, this is why I wanted to ease you into it, instead of just blurting it out, because I didn't want to melt your brain," Janna said, as she lowered the flashlight, giving her friend a smug look, despite her not being able to see it.

But Star could easily pick up on her know-it-all tone and let out a short breath. "Well I obviously didn't think you were going to say that," Star retorted, defensively. Her vision now clearing, she faced her friend asked, "And what do you mean by that, anyways?"

Janna shrugged. "Exactly what I said, Glossaryk doesn't have any allegiance one way or the other, he basically just does whatever he wants, he only helps out when he wants to and from what I can tell, that can be pretty random."

"Well no duh," Star shot back, crossing her arms. "I already knew all of that, he told me that the day we first met."

Janna froze for a moment, the tables turning as she found _herself_ the one caught off guard and perplexed. "So what your saying is, I just wasted my entire day spying on that weird blue man, who spends a surprising amount of time airing out his robes by the way..."

"Ew," Star groaned in disgust.

"Only for me to tell you exactly what you already knew," Janna finished and Star gave her sheepish look.

"Uh pretty much," Star said hesitantly.

Janna let out a long sigh, before declaring in annoyance, "That's the last thing I ever do anything for you." She rose off the bed and started heading for the door, with a frown.

Star waited until her door closed once again, before falling down onto her pillows in a slump. "Great, back to square one," she said to herself, dejectedly. She rubbed her palms into her eyes, trying to think of her next move. "What am I supposed to do, now?" she asked her empty room. "I'm no closer to getting Glossaryk on my side than I was yesterday." She let out a tired sigh, knowing she was left with only one option left. "No more beating around the bush, tomorrow morning, I'm gonna have to talk to him."

…

The next morning Star softly knocked on the door to Marco's room, alerting him to her presence, as she slowly pushed it open. But she was surprised to find not one form underneath his soft covers but rather three, one large, two small. Star walked over to the lumps, and smiled down at the sight of her boyfriend and her two little nieces cuddling him under the sheets. Her heart skipped at beat at the cute scene and she felt almost bad for having to ruin the moment (not to mention for forgetting her camera). But, seeing no other choice, she reached a hand down and gently shook the boy's shoulder, calling to him in a quiet tone, "Marco."

The boy's eyes blinked open and he looked up into the sky blue orbs of his bestie, a wain grin lighting up his face as he recognized her. "Hey Star," he said groggily.

Star sat down on her knees beside his bed, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead. She ran a hand through his soft, but tangled locks as she asked, softly, "What are the twins doing in here?"

Marco didn't hear the question though, too busy reveling in the feeling of the girl's fingers brushing against his skin for a moment and leaning into her gentle touch. "Hmm," he asked, a loving grin on his face, before he finally processed the girl's words. "Oh! They had a bad dream, so they asked to sleep in here with me and I couldn't just say no."

Star smiled down at him, loving how big a heart her Marco had, always caring for others before himself. "Well I was on my way to go talk to Glossaryk this morning and I was wondering if you would come with," Star said, before admitting sheepishly, "I could really use the support."

Star wasn't surprised when Marco instantly nodded, saying in a reassuring tone, "Yeah, of course, Star. Anything for you."

Marco sat up from his bed, Star trying not to coo over how cute he looked in his blue pj's. The twins groaned from the sudden disappearance of the warm blanket, Violet rolling over onto her other side, while Daisy felt around for the missing sheets.

"Violet, give me back my blanket," Daisy's snoozing form groggily commanded.

"No, only after you give me back mine," Violet slurred back, her face scrunching up in anger.

The two teens shared a look and had to cover their mouths to stifle their laughter. Even in sleep, it seemed the young girls couldn't help but fight. Marco tenderly laid the blanket back across the two, tucking them in tightly before taking Star's hand and following her out of his room.

…

A few mintues later, that were at his door, knocking as they tried their best to gain his attention. "Glossaryk, can we come in?" Star asked, waiting for a response that never came. She frowned and knocked again, tempted to just throw the door open regardless of their guest's wishes. Jackie peeked her head out of her own room, curious over where the loud racket was coming from on this early morning. Seeing Star and Marco standing outside the neighboring room, she quickly went over to join them, asking Marco once she had reached them, "What's up?"

The boy, who was trying to comb down his messy bed head with his fingers, looked over at his friend and answered, "Star wanted to talk to Glossaryk about something."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Jackie said, snapping her fingers in remembrance. She turned to the blond, who was staring intensely at the still-closed door, almost trying to will it open. "Hey, Star you'll never guess what happened to me yesterday-"

But before the skater could finish her story, the door was suddenly opened by a small butler man with eight eyes. All three teens took an immediate step back, flabbergasted by the strange sight. "Can I help you?" the man said, in a thick British accent.

"Um, we wanted... to speak to Glossaryk," Marco spoke up hesitantly, his two friends brains still too frazzled to form words.

"Ah yes, of course, he's been expecting you," the butler opened the door wider and gestured for them to enter. The three obeyed, stepping inside, once again caught off guard by the drastic changes within the room. It was now three times the size and to their surprise was filled with magical creatures and being of all shapes and sizes, who seemed to be having some sort of party.

"Where did all these guys come from?" Star asked, looking around at the dozens of unfamiliar being around them.

Jackie looked around at the suddenly enormous room, commenting, "Huh, nice digs."

Star massaged her forehead with the tips of her fingers, feeling a headache beginning to form. It was way too early for this. "Okay, let's just find Glossaryk and get this over with."

"But where is he?" Marco asked, his eyes scanning the giant, crowded room for any signs of the small blue man.

The sound of someone clearing their throat, drew the teens attention to behind them, where the same butler from before said, "Right this way, please. Follow me." He then began pushing his way into the crowd and the three watched him for a second, before looking between each other and shrugged. They quickly caught up with him, as he led them to wherever it was Glossaryk was residing in his own room.

Marco was struggling to keep up with them in the tight and confining crown, when suddenly, he tripped on something and nearly fell, but was caught by an arm. "Whoa watch it there, buddy," came the oddly distorted voice of his savior. Marco was lifted back up to his feet and the teen turned and thanked whoever had saved him. He was slightly startled to see that this creature was a large triangle thing (reminding him quite a bit of a nacho chip) with a large yellow eye and a top hat. His long black arms were fiddling with the olive in the champagne glass he held. "No problem there, Hoodie," the creature replied to his gratitude, his big yellow eye, studying him up and down, making the boy feel very uncomfortable.

Marco considered questioning why this being had referred to as his favorite choice in fashion, when he was still in his pj's, but was unable to as they being spoke again. "But if you really want to thank me, how's about you and I make a deal, huh? Solve this little crisis you're having?" The being leaned in closer to Marco, elbowing him in the shoulder.

"Um, there's no crisis," Marco said quickly, seriously wanting to get away from this creature... _now_. He was giving him bad vibes. "I mean, there's a few problems but no crisis."

The triangle didn't seem to buy this, as it asked whispering into Marco's ear, "Come on, Hoodie, you can't fool me. Don't you want to know who's behind your girlfriend's little kidnapping attempt or not?"

Marco felt his heart skip a beat. How did this weird, shape thing know about that? The boy opened his dry mouth to respond, when he heard a call from none other than Star. "Marco, come on!"

The boy turned for a second to see his girlfriend and his friend waiting for him to catch up to them, before turning back to the triangle.

But to his surprise, the creature was gone, disappearing into thin air, no trace left behind to show he was even there to begin with. The boy tried to ignore this strangeness as he ran to catch up to his friends, but found himself gazing back at the area, uneasily.

Once the three were reunited, the butler finished leading them to the very far corner of the room, where a pedestal sat, with Marco's history book laying closed on top of it.

None of them knew how to react to this or what to do next, just staring at the book unsure. "So, do we just open it or what?" Marco asked his friends and both girls shrugged.

"Knock," the butler said out of nowhere.

"What?" Star asked him, all of them giving him a confused look.

"Your boyfriend asked what to do and I just told you, it would be polite of you to knock."

The three blinked once, before Star said, "Uhh, right. Thank you for your help."

"It is my job," the man said. "Now if you'll excuse me, one of our guests has set down a full cup of punch without using a coaster. I must attend to the mess," he finished dramatically, bowing to them and walking away.

The teens attention was quickly drawn back to the book, as Jackie said, "Well go ahead, Star. Knock."

Star took a deep breath to prepare herself, before walking over to the book, and carefully rapping her knuckles against its cover. She took a step back, the three now all watching as they waited for something to happen. Several seconds passed and the book remained closed, prompting Marco to ask, "So, is he asleep or-"

Suddenly the book flew open, the pages turning wildly and the three teens let out an instinctive shout, clinging to each other for sudden protection. But they recovered quickly, pulling away once more as they watched Glossaryk surface from the still rapidly turning pages, yawning and stretching his arms.

"Well I was, until someone woke me," the blue man replied to Marco's earlier question.

"Sorry to wake you, Glossaryk," Star apologized quickly, wanting to get straight to the point, knowing the longer it took the weirder and more confusing things would get. "But I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes, I know, I expected you to come," Glossaryk replied, much to Star's surprise.

"Then why were you asleep," Jackie asked.

"Well, Reynaldo told me you would be here much later. Thanks for that by the way," Glossaryk loudly called to one of the guests, a bald giraffe in a white robe.

"The striking of the hours and the seconds of the day, are all too similar but will come either way," Reynaldo replied mysteriously.

The three teens blinked, Marco asking, "Uh, what?"

Glossaryk sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Reynaldo can only speak in rhymes. Its gets very old, very fast," he explained to the three, looking and sounding very annoyed.

"Great, so anyways-" Star started, trying to get back on track to the reason they were there.

But Glossaryk ignored her and turned back to the giraffe, who was still reciting rhyme after rhyme to anyone unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance of him, and shouted out, "Yes, thank you, Reynaldo. Keep... doing what your doing, from way on the other side of the room."

The giraffe did take Glossaryk's advice and wandered off, still spouting out more gibberish as he went. "Now what can I help you three with this morning?" the being asked, as he created a donut and coffee mug, and beginning snacking away on the fabricated treats.

Star stared blankly at him for a moment, before shaking her head free from the annoyance and confusion she was feeling as she forced her mind to focus on the matter at hand. "Okay look, I get that your going for the whole weird all-knowing being image and all that," Star said, doing a little wave of her hands for emphasis, as she fought the urge to roll her eyes. "But, right now, I need you to give me an honest answer. No weird magic stuff, no trying to change the subject, and no mysterious mumbo-jumbo. Just a yes or no answer, okay?"

Glossaryk nodded and said, "I can do that, yes."

"Good," Star breathed out in relief. But her voice grew serious as she asked, "Then I need to know. Are you going to help me with the commission or not?"

Marco and Jackie held their breath as they waited for Glossaryk's reply, Star's eyes remained trained on him as she waited for his answer. "Why does it matter one way or the other?" Glossaryk asked.

This was not what Star had expected him to say, opening her mouth to respond, but found no words there. "I, um- Well- I-I just," Star stuttered out in surprise, unable to form a coherent sentence at the moment.

"Your going to continue doing what you want regardless of my assistance, correct?"

"Well yes, but-"

"And your commission will still form whether or not I'm a part of it."

"Yeah."

"So then, why do I concern you so much?" Glossaryk asked outright.

Star took a moment to respond to that one. Why did she care? So what if Glossaryk wasn't the most helpful person ever, so what if he was confusing and hard to follow sometimes? He wasn't really in the way of anything. It wasn't like he had done anything to thwart their efforts to make a Monster-Mewman paradise. Yes, he was strange and confusing and most of the time unhelpful, but he was just being himself, right? What was so bad about that?

"I guess... I just overreacted," Star admitted, playing with a strand of her hair, sheepishly. But as she continued, she began talking faster and faster, with no way to stop herself. "It's just, when we first met and you were the one who gave me the idea for all of this, I guess I thought that you were gonna help me figure stuff out, cause there's still so many decisions I still have to make and I don't have the right answers right now. I don't want to mess things up, I can't mess things up cause if I do I fail everyone, the Monsters and my family and Marco! And I can't let him down. I don't want to be the reason his family gets hurt!" Star panted once she had finished, tears brimming her eyes, as she looked down at the floor rather than her two friends behind her. She didn't know why she had said all those things, some of them she hadn't even known had been bothering her until she had said them. But once she had started confessing she hadn't been able to stop, letting all the dark thoughts that had plagued her mind for the last couple of days out into the open and though she felt she could breathe easier now, she was now worried what the others would say.

The blond royal sniffed, wiping away the tears in her eyes, trying her best not to show the uncertainty she felt, as she waited for one of her friends or Glossaryk to speak. And when she felt a tender hand on her shoulder, she knew it had to be Marco even before he spoke. "Star, you could never disappoint me. Even if you did mess things up, even if..." Marco swallowed, not wanting to even voice the thought out loud. "Even if we couldn't make this plan work, I wouldn't blame you for it." Star turned around to face him, taking in the soft, caring look in his eyes. "Your the most important person in my life, Star. Nothing you do could ever make me feel about you any different than I do right now."

Star gave him a soft smile, before pulling him closer to her, not caring that they no doubt had an audience as she kissed him, pouring her gratitude and love into the breathless action, rubbing a hand against his cheek causing his suns to spin from her touch, as her other arm remained wrapped around him in a hug. When the two finally pulled away, both panting for breath, she said, "Thanks Marco. I needed to hear that."

"It seems to me, you don't need my help any, princess" Glossaryk suddenly spoke, forcing the two teens to peel their gaze away from the other's beautiful eyes and onto the small blue man. "Your instincts are more on point than you might think and whenever those fail you..." He now looked between the two of them and even Jackie for a moment, before adding, "You have two loyal friends who would go to the ends of the multiverse and beyond for you."

Star looked between her two friends with a wide grin, as she nodded, agreeing with Glossaryk for once. "Yeah, your right. I do."

"And Star, you don't have to keep stuff like this bottled up and try to deal with it on your own," Jackie said, stepping closer to her friend. "Tell us so when your worried about stuff we can help you work through it, that's what we're here for."

Star nodded, feeling dumb for not remembering that sooner. "Okay, thanks Jacks."

"Well it seems my work here is done," Glossaryk said, satisfied, starting to lower himself back into his book.

But Star quickly stopped him, calling out, "Wait, wait, wait. Was... was this your plan all along? Were you doing all of this, just so I would end up confessing?" Of course, it all made sense now, this had all been some weird test by Glossaryk, acting strange and unhelpful to force her to face her insecurities. Wow, maybe Glossaryk really was more genius than he let on.

But Glossaryk only shrugged and said, "Maybe, I have no idea." And with that he vanished back into the book, which flipped closed, sealing up once more.

Star blinked. Or maybe he was just a crazy weirdo. "So uh, what just happened?" Marco asked the others.

"I have no idea," Star said with a sigh. "But I'm pretty sure it's best that we just roll with it and try not to think about it too much." She turned, putting an arm around the boy's shoulders as she went to lead him out of the chaotic, nonsensical room, before either his or her brains could melt. The three teens froze when they saw the room was now empty, though still in its enormous size and Marco once again opened his mouth to speak.

"Just let it go, Marco," Jackie suggested and the hooded teen nodded, looking around the room as he allowed Star to guide him out. Once they were back in the real world, where everything made sense (somewhat), they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that was... strange," Star said, probably summing up best what the others were thinking.

"Agreed," Jackie said with a nod. "But hey, at least we don't have to worry about Glossaryk spying on us to the commission."

Star nodded, feeling quite relieved by that fact. "True."

"Now if you'll excuse me," Jackie continued. "I'm gonna go and practice a bit on my skateboard. I need to clear my mind a bit after all that." She took off in the direction of her room to retrieve her precious item, waving back to them as she called out, "Catch you later, guys."

"See ya, Jacks," Star yelled back, returning the wave. Once the door to the skater's room closed, Star turned to Marco. "So, Marco do you have any plans for the day?" she asked hintingly.

Marco thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, not really. Do you have something in mind?"

"Weeeellll," Star said, in a flirting tone, twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger. "There's a corn festival going on in town and I was wondering if you would like to go.

"Sure that sounds fun!" Marco said eagerly, a bright smile lighting up his face.

"Great, then it's a date!" the blond said, before leaning over and kissing her boyfriend on the cheek, who blushed wildly.

"A-A date!" Marco squeaked out, his heart hammering away in his chest like crazy. "L-Like a date, date? Between you and me?" Marco asked quickly, his voice still a girlish squeal from panicked delight. Star just grinned at him, her bright blue orbs lighting up as she stared lovingly at him and the boy felt like he might melt, his stomach flipping uncontrollably from the beautiful look.

"Well, that is the whole idea," Star said teasingly. "We are dating after all."

Marco took a moment to let that sink in, his brain going completely numb from how blindingly beautiful his girlfriend was. Sometimes it overwhelmed him with how lucky he was to be dating the magical princess. He swallowed, trying to wet his now dry mouth so he could respond to his Star. "Okay then, let's get going!" Marco shouted excitedly, nodding vigorously, grabbing the girl's hand and dragging her down the hallway, ready to begin.

Star laughed at her adorable bestie, before saying, "Um, Marco, aren't you forgetting something?"

Marco skidded to a stop and turned back to the blond with a lost look. "What?" he asked.

Star pointed down at Marco's form, a barely suppressed laugh stretching her face, and the boy followed her look, spotting the bright blue pajamas he was still wearing. The boy lit up red once again, as he said sheepishly, "Oh, I should probably change first I guess."

 **And that's the end of that one! I hope you all liked it and Glossaryk. Glossaryk is harrrddd to write. Being my least favorite character, getting into his mindset was a challange, so I decided, he's as random as can be in the show, why change that? I wanted him to be the MHC member there, as I feel it makes the most sense, since he won't do everything in his power to ruin Star and Marco's plans for a better future. He won't be in it a ton, I kinda like the idea of him just kinda hanging out at the castle, doing his own thing and the others just kinda dealing with him when need be. For all you Glossaryk fans out there, I did my best.**

 **So anyways, I have a bit of an announcement I want to make. See since it is Starcoweek and with show ending and all I've decided to go ahead and do all the prompts for it! So I will spend most of this week and some of next week possibly to get them done. I already technically missed the deadline for day one, since it was today but it crept up on me and was a bit of a last minute decision, plus like I said at the beginning of this chapter, I was without power for a few days and couldn't work on it. Now you may be wondering why I'm informing all of you of this, well it's because I will be using these set of characters for some of the prompts and they will be cannon to the story. So if you want some short Starco stories, this will be a great place to go. In fact, if you were wondering how their date went for this one well... Day 1 is Awkward Dating Moments, so at least part of it will be on there. It should be up on this site tomorrow, hopefully, under Starcoweek5 or something like that, you should be able to find it pretty easy.**

 **So the next chapter may get pushed back a bit, but it will hopefully be up in three weeks. It's not too long (I don't think at least) and I already have it planned where it's going. I will get it done as quickly as I can though, so don't fret, friends. I will do my very best!**

 **On to the comments:**

 **Gamelover41592- Thank you so much! Haha, I thought it was pretty cute too. Glad you felt the same! :)**

 **Celestialfyxen- Awww, thank you! *blushies* I'm glad my three OC's went over well with everyone. I've had them planned from the beginning but I wasn't sure how people would react to them. I did go out of my way to make Daisy and Violet as cute as possible and I loved making Lily this total flirt with everyone she meets.**

 **Haha yeah, the game was a bit intense for his liking but he did his best and that's all we can ask of him. Regarding the twin's trait, this is a good question. Honestly, I hadn't really thought about it that much until you asked. Well I suppose that when the two grow up they just won't be using their trait any, due to having separate lives and different thoughts. I expect that they would visit each other a lot as they are pretty close and all and then, being the adults that they are, would be able to come to an agreement on what to make. I also like to think that at some point, they are thinking about each other and that causes them to create a random thing cause of how in sync they are. Marco's moments of bravery typically come when someone is in real, genuine danger, so playing a game wouldn't cause him to go hero mode and risk life and limb to beat the thing. But yes, I did want Marco to take the time to try and teach the girls, both as a life lesson to them and some practice of being the mediator he is destined to be.**

 **Janna is my second favorite character behind Marco, because I have a blast writing her humor, so I do typically cram her in wherever I can. But I was careful this time to not have her take the limelight over Marco and twins bonding time. I actually considered for about half a second to have her participate in her game, but decided against it. Yay, I'm learning! *pats myself on the back***

 **Hahaha, yeah, we might have to start a charity fund for Star if that happens. She already is no longer able to put sugar on her burritos, sooo we should probably keep a close eye on her. *Marco kisses Star off-screen* I'll go get the insulin shots.**

 **Oooh some speculation on the MHC member! Yeah, you are right on all of these, Rhombulus is a bad pick, you'll find out why in this chapter. Heckapoo is too controlling and is super busy at the moment. She has so many trips to the Tavern to make before she gets a free drink. Lekmet is a good pick, since he doesn't have any prejudices against the Monsters. I don't think language barrier would be a big deal, since his magic includes telekinesis. Besides, Marco's trait allows him to learn languages very quickly. That's why he's one of the few who can understand Potato Baby.**

 **Finally, thanks for the review and kind words! I'm glad to have made a fellow Star smile like that! Hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **Looking for entertainment- Ooooh, good job, you did it! *pulls a cord, followed by off-key fanfare and confetti raining down* Here have a virtual cookie! *throws virtual cookie through the computer* It tracks you wherever you are on the computer... Also it's chocolate. Enjoy!**

 **Pen-Woman- Aww, glad you enjoyed it, knowing I made someones day like that, just makes me smile! ^U^ Oh, good question. I didn't actually have any plans for that buuuttt... *looks at Starcoweek prompts and spots one about a Road Trip* I do actually have an idea for it now, thanks to you. Don't know if you read my author's note or not, but I will be focusing this week and maybe some of the next one on one-shots for Starcoweek and some will include this stories versions of characters. The forth days prompt is for a road trip and it will be a short story of Star and Marco (Jackie and Janna too) visiting Earth for the day on a mini-vacation thing. Your welcome to check that out whenever it's done, if you're interested. (I'm going to try to get these done as closely to the days as I can but I make no promises) Thanks for the idea and the comment!**

 **Bedrock Armor- Yes, I have as well as the finale and as for how do I feel about it? OH! MY! GOSH! I loved it so, so much! I have no problems with the last set of episodes! Starco is cannon, I'm so happy! *crying tears of joy and chanting along with you* Starco! Starco! Starco! I'm just glad sweet Tom gave Marco permission, because I didn't want to see that poor boy hurt. But oh my goodness, Mama Star is top three for sure for me. Marco's confession was perfect, it was as adorable as I wanted it to be! And them instantly liking each other with memory loss and becoming a family, just made me sooo happy! The cliffhanger was, wow! I'm so glad Eclipsa is okay and happy now.**

 **Oh right, my story, I got lost in cannon Starco feels, too! Heckapoo would make things interesting for Star and the group, but it's actually someone different, sorry. Good guess, though, the chaos she would have caused for our group of friends would have been pretty epic.**

 **Oh that is _so_ cool! Hope you had a great graduation! And I hope the finale lived up to all your expectations! I know some people had some problems with it, but me personally had none. Okay, if I squint maybe laser puppies, but they didn't say things made with magic disappeared. Anyways, yeah the show is over, but hey I'm here for you... to fill all your Starco and SVTFOE needs! And I ain't quitting anytime soon. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Jaffa3- Aww, glad you like my girls, I'm quite proud of them! And yeah I couldn't resist big brother Marco being a thing in this story. And before you ask, I had this planned since the beginning, long before the Marco Jr. episode. That is a chapter, but not this one, sadly, sorry. I tried to squeeze it into this one, but there was too much else going on. But I have it planned (Disclaimer: for now, just in case) for one of the next three. Hold on till then, friend!**

 **D4rk Sid3- Thanks! Yeah I wanted to show more of Star's family, some that were actually more lighthearted then most of the rest of the Butterflies. Also I wanted to try my hand at some OCs. And of course they get along with Marco, nobody can resist his sweet, innocent charm... except Toffee, but he's a jerk. Also, Star didn't mind sharing some of her Marco's attention with the cute twins, if it resulted in some adorable pictures which is now her mirror phones wallpaper. Alone time for them will come later, though.**

 **Monkey lover 911- The answer is yes, much more of Daisy and Violet because I adore the girls, sooo much! They will meet Marco's family but in a future chapter. I'm planning on the next three, and hopefully that won't change. Oh, I wasn't planning on actually showing the conversation. But it went something like this:**

 **Marco: Hey dad, I have a question for you?**

 **Buff Frog: Yes, Marco what is it.**

 **Marco: Am I a prince?**

 **Buff Frog: (shocked and stuttering for an answer) Oh. Um, Monsters don't have royalty anymore, that more of Mewman thing.**

 **Marco: (misunderstanding) Than am I a Mewman prince?**

 **(Buff Frog smiles to himself silently, thinking of his son's girlfriend and how happy they were together)**

 **Buff Frog: No, but I have feeling will be when older.**

 **And there you go! I answered in the next chapter's comments, so good enough right! Thanks, for the comment.**

 **Sugar- Ooh, so glad you liked this it and my new baby OCs. I enjoyed making Lily the cool, quirky fun aunt who is also a good mother for her daughters and Daisy and Violet were an absolute pleasure to write for beginning to end. They are total opposites on almost everything except that they are both adorable and love their big brother Marco and their family. I have never actually read those books but I'm glad I could bring you some childhood nostalgia if it reminded you of a favorite book series when you were kid! Though can't take all the credit since their style was directly referenced from the Disney XD into bump thing by Daron Nefcy herself. Who knows, maybe she reads these books too, for inspiration.**

 **Marco is always too cute for words! I wanted to show he still had that childlike wonder just like the girls did, since he never grew out of it from such a sheltered childhood. Yes, Marco was not ready for such an intense game, but he handled it as best as he could.**

 **That is the plan, once Daisy meets Buff Frog and gets to know him she will see that Monsters aren't the scary, evil creatures like she thinks. That chapter is coming, just not yet, next three hopefully. But can you imagine Buff Frog's reaction when they call Marco, "big brother" he's going to be all kinds of confused! Haha Great, now I can't wait to write that scene!**

 **Julian Cabrera- Thank you so, so much! That is so nice of you to say! I think the fandom needs more wholesome stories and I am hear to provide just that. Don't you worry, friend. This writer ain't quitting on this story yet! I plan to go all the way to the ending! To be honest, I'm happy with the show ending, since now I don't have to have new characters and ideas in the cannon that I will be tempted to put in here. Sad to see it go, yes, but I will continue on as long as you guys continue to read it.**

 **Cheshirek3t- Hahaha, yeah that was a fun moment to write! And oh, did my RWBY love shine through on accident? I am assuming that was where the line was from, since it was word for word Jaune. Yeah that might have been influenced some by one my favorite anime of all time. In fact my name 'DorkMagnet' was my own ship name for JaunexPhyrra, so yeah RWBY is kinda a big deal for me, guess it snuck it's way into my writing without me even knowing it. Ha. Good reference, love it!**

 **Reverseflash- ch. 18: Oh my gosh, you're right they are similar! Maybe Bill Cipher has been secretly controlling Beard Deer this whole time! Illuminati confirmed! Haha, just kidding. Sometimes my writing gets influenced by stuff I have watched and is stuck forever in my subconscious. Also I was thinking about what you said and well somehow Bill Cipher snuck his way into this chapter, somewhere. This will probably be his only appearance since I'm focusing on Star vs characters and not trying to throw in a billion different ones from various shows I love.**

 **Thank you though, that is a great honor, someone as well read in fanfictions as you would nominate this as a top 10 is just amazing to me! And hey, they say 7 is a lucky number so I'm just fine with it being there on your list! Honestly, just knowing you think so highly of it all is truly incredible! Thanks so much for the support and love for this little old fic of mine!**

 **Ch. 24: Yes, yes I did and oh my goooossssshhhh! The finale was incredible and absolutely perfect to me! I loved it so, so much! Mostly because Starco is cannon and the lengths the two went to be with each other warms my heart, their love was so pure it literally merged their worlds into one, how cool is that?! The consequences would have good to explore but I'm fine with where it ended, now there's plenty of fan content to fill those burning questions. As for my thoughts, I don't think their choice was completely black and white, some probably where affected negatively by the act but others probably came to terms with it and saw it as a positive change.**

 **Haha, yeah fight scenes aren't my forte, I did my best to make Toffee as strong as possible but most of his feared ability came from the fact that he was unkillable. Take that away and he isn't nearly the threat they all thought he was. To be honest, Toffee didn't seem all that strong a fighter in the show, he was scheming and calculating but he didn't really fight all that much. The strongest I remember seeing him was when he took over Ludo and he had the power of the wand at the time. But I digress, sadly Toffee isn't returning. I have more villains planned and having him still be alive would have some severe repercussions on Marco's mind.**

 **Your not the first person to complain about my characterization of Marco and I have been working on fixing this so he isn't a helpless damsel. He will still keep his core characteristics but having him train with Higgs will mean that he knows enough self defense that he will be able to hold his own against an enemy in the future. Haha, while Star having a heart attack over a muscular version of Marco would be cool I want to keep them at the same age, so I probably won't have him do the whole Neverzone time thing. Plus, naïve Marco is kinda my thing or well at least a more lighthearted and innocent minded Marco is and he probably won't completely grow out of his more cute qualities, he's just not kinda person on here. Still, despite my overly cinnamon bun of a character I'm so glad you've still been able to enjoy my story so much!**

 **Yeah, my schedule is all over the place, a lot of times, haha. Mostly due to either some unforseen problem getting the way of my posting or some writer's block and lack of inspiration. Plus, yeah, I do put as much quality as I can into them, and couple that with their ever expanding length, it just takes time to get them done. Time I sometimes just don't have. :( It's honestly hard to say how summer will affect my schedule. I'm not in school actually, I work a full-time job at McDonalds currently and just write in my spare time, so that doesn't really factor into it all that much. However, I've gotten quite a bit of my inspiration back (after some personal stuff I had to work out) and have been writing quite a bit so hopefully that will stay and I will be able to stick to a decent schedule again.**

 **Some fanfiction recommendations? Oh well, I guess I have to confess that I don't read too many fellow fanfictions all that often, so some of mine are a bit older. Don't get me wrong I love them, but again I feel pretty stretched thin for free time, sometimes so I don't have a lot of time for it all that much. My fave writer of all time on this site is 100% EVAunit42. I legit read anything he writes, my fav being his biggest story "There's Always a Star and a Hoodie" which is a massive collection of Alternate Universes that always brighten my day. (And his Starco daughter, Nova is my favorite out of all of them) Other than that, I also love roberkellet's fanfictions... like all of them and "Sign of the Moon" by blackwolfwrites is amazing from what I've read, as well as "Unfit to Rule" by High Voltage Lemon Battery, though I haven't seen an update on this one in a while. SugarQueen97's is in Spanish but if you can figure out how to work google translate unlike me, haha, I'm sure you'd enjoy it! And I've also been recently rereading one of my classic loves "The Princess and the Safe Kid" by PFTones34782, which is refilling my heart with fluff. (Though warning you some of the chapters get dark but there is usually a heads up to skip if you don't want to read some deathy angst) Other than that, I say just look around there is tone of great writing and creativity here in the Stardom I'm sure you'll find some great reads!**

 **Alright rank 7 achieved! *game narrator: you've gained 50+ experience but lost -50 sleep points* Aw, well sleep is overrated anyways. And wow, number 2 out of all Svtfoe fanfics! Woooowwww, that is quite a feat! I will continue to try and improve and let it live up to the awesome rank you have given it! Thank you so, so much! :') I'm not crying, you're crying.**

 **Also is that some love for my two guards I hear? Well thanks, not a lot of people comment on them... or any really. In truth I love them probably more than I should. They were my first Ocs so they hold a special place in my heart for me (hence why they show up all over the place) What started out as two placeholder characters became recurring characters, haha, who would have thought?**

 **Julian- Aww, me too. Star vs changed my life and I'm going to miss the show. But no, rest assured, I have zero plans to quit now. As long as there are people reading it, I plan to stay. You will have more of these two darling cinnamon buns for months to come.**

 **Next update: planned 3 weeks**

 **Last episode thoughts ahead:**

… ***intense screaming* my babies are a couple! They are a couple, people! Starco has finally come and I am so, so happy words can't express the joy I'm feeling! Their confession was great and despite a week of worrying, I'm so glad that they weren't separated forever! The end scene feels though, so intense! Star being willing to give up her life just to be with Marco, not to mention their love being so pure that it literally merged their worlds into one just so they could be together! I personally had no complaints, will okay maybe realizing after the fact that no magic equals no laser puppies... moment of silence for laser puppies. RIP. But still, it is now my headcannon that not just their worlds but all the dimensions merged together. Like the result of the explosion merged the two dimensions that were caught up in it, but the resulting side-effect is that the rest of them are now bordering them, creating one massive world!**

 **The final scene of them seeing each again and looking so happy, is just so good and makes me tear up, like wow, those two deserve the whole world! I hope they spend the rest of their lives in happiness and hugs and have plenty of Starco babies together!**


	26. Ludicrous Negotiations

Chapter 25: Ludicrous Negotiations

 **Hey everyone, thDorkMagnet is here to bring you all another lovely chapter! I hope you all had a wonderful couple of weeks! And thanks everyone for all the favorites, follows and reviews, I'm almost at 300 followers guys! Like wow, so incredible! I always appreciate you all so, so much! Wow, so I managed to get this one in a decent amount of time considering I actually spent nearly two weeks on the Starcoweek stuff instead of one like I planned. Whew, that was a fun little break but I was glad to return back to this one!**

 **Also a lot of people have been asking me if I am planning on quitting this story now that the show is over and let me just ease everyone's mind on this: Nope, I'm not done with this story anytime soon! Star vs is one of my favorite shows and I think it will stay that way long into the future. Besides, I love writing this story and I couldn't imagine just giving up on it before it's done.**

 **Anyways, as you can probably guess from the title of this one, a certain Star vs. character is about to make his first appearance! YAY! I had a blast writing this one and I hope you all like it! Anyways, thanks again, guys! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

The door to Marco's room casually creaked open, as two small forms pocked their heads in, mischievous smiles on there faces as they stared at the lump under the covers of the hooded boy's bed. Daisy and Violet shared a chuckle as their big brother was none the wiser to their presence, still sleeping peacefully in his bed. The two tiptoed closer, making sure to make as little noise as possible, until they were now below the foot of his bed. The two covered their mouths to hold in their giggles, before they both whispered at the same time, "One... Two... THREE!"

They quickly jumped up onto the bed and the form buried beneath the covers, wrapping their arms around it and laughing their heads off, Daisy shouting, "Surprise, big brother! It's time to get up!"

"Yeah, wake up, sleepyhead! It's after noon!" Violet loudly added. But to the girl's surprise there was no resistance from whatever was lurking beneath the covers. The two shared a look, Marco would normally laugh or yawn or both when the two woke him like that, not just lay there in silence, meaning that whatever they were currently laying on couldn't be the hooded teen and they quickly ripped off the sheets to reveal the imposter.

"Corny!" the two exclaimed, staring in shock at the large stuffed corncob that Star had won Marco at the corn festival, one that the boy slept with nearly every night. Daisy put her hands on her hips, giving the toy an accusing frown as she questioned, "What are you doing pretending to be Marco?"

"And where's big brother?" Violet added, shooting Corny a dirty glare, who merely just continued to smile blissfully with his sewed on eyes and smile.

"He went to go visit his family," came a sudden voice from in the room, making the twins jump in surprise, having not actually expected an answer.

"Corny, you can talk?!" Daisy exclaimed excitedly, leaning closer to the toy her eyes shining with bright possibilities.

"Actually that was me," Star said from behind the two and the twins quickly spotted their cousin standing over them.

"Oh, right," Daisy said sheepishly. "For a second I thought we used our Trait without realizing it."

"What do you mean big brother went to go see his family?" Violet questioned huffily, standing up on the bed with her hands on her hips. "He was supposed to take us with him!"

"Well Marco wanted to," Star stated calmly, not letting the young girl's bratty behavior get to her. "But-"

"You two are still grounded," Lily suddenly interrupted, pocking her head into the room as she walked by.

Violet groaned, while Daisy breathed a quick sigh of relief, still not wanting to go anywhere near the dangerous and scary creatures. She had never been grateful to be grounded before. Her sister on the other hand...

"That's not fair, mom," Violet whined, but their mother stood firm, saying in a scolding tone, "Well maybe next time you two will think twice before setting piggoats loose in the castle."

Their mother then continued down the hallway, leaving her younger daughter grumbling in anger, as she sat down on the edge of the bed with her arms crossed. Star watched the young Butterfly's childish behavior, before saying knowingly, "Well, if you two are interested, Jackie is free today and I'm sure if you two asked her she would be happy to teach you who to ride on her skateboard."

Violet instantly perked up, a smile on her face, while her twin sister gasped in delight. "Really?!" the gothic girl squealed, as she leaned closer to her cousin her eyes shimmering like Daisy's often did.

Star gave a quick nod. "Yep, but you two better hurry." The two instantly shot off the bed, Daisy taking Corny with them, already shouting out the skater girl's name even though they were far from her bedroom. The blond royal just smiled and shook her head at the two antics, before following after them.

…

When Marco arrived at Buff Frog's home, a wide grin on his face as he prepared for the loving and warm embrace from his family when he surprised them with his visit, he was shocked to find almost all of them clumped around the doorway to the nearly finished home. And as Marco slowly approached them with curiosity, he was able to pick up bits and pieces of their hushed conversation.

"Do you think Buff Frog's okay in there?" Lobster Claw's asked worriedly.

"The boss can handle himself," Beard Deer replied, not sounding nearly as anxious as he looked, his intense gaze hovering on the door. "Especially against that moron," he added with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah but still-"

"Hey guys," Marco greeted cheerfully and they all turned to him for a single second, Spike Balls saying, "Oh hey Marco," before they all turned back to the doorway.

There was a beat of silence, then every single Monster turned back to the hooded boy in a panic shouting out, "Marco!" Marco jumped slightly in surprise, but his smile remained as he looked at each member of his Monster family. "What are you doing here?" Lobster Claws asked.

"Oh um, I wanted to surprise you all with a visit," he explained cheerfully, but picking up on their worried, anxious faces, several of them continually glancing back at the doorway, Marco asked with concern, "Should I not have?"

The Monsters all shared a look, before Beard Deer stepped over and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, saying, "We're always happy to see you, Marco, but now..." He paused trying to find a way to word this to his young charge without worrying him. "Is just not a great time."

"Why, what's going on?" Marco asked inquisitively, now trying to peek around the Monsters and see inside with no luck.

Again the Monsters all shared a concerned stare, clearly debating on telling him or not, but they knew he would only persist if they tried to hide it from him so instead Bearicorn explained, "There's another Monster here visiting Buff Frog, on business."

"Really, who?" Marco asked, his large brown eyes full of curiosity.

"Do you remember Buff Frog's story from the other day?" Beard Deer asked instead.

Marco nodded, ignoring the small twist to his insides. "Yeah."

"Well, remember how Toffee had an accomplice, Ludo?" The boy again nodded his head. Beard Deer crossed his arms. "Yeah, well he's here talking to Buff Frog right now."

"Seriously?!" Marco exclaimed his eyes growing wide. "But isn't he a bad guy like Toffee?"

All of the Monster grew quiet. "It's... complicated," Beard Deer finally replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

Marco was silent for a second, deep in thought, before he asked, "What does he want to talk to Buff Frog about?"

Instead of an answer from the Monsters, there was instead a loud, high-pitched voice coming from inside the cozy cottage, muffled by the echoes and walls. "I will not be treated with such disrespect!" The doors busted open a second later, Buff Frog's Monsters quickly stepping back, as a new group of Monsters exited the cottage. There were about ten or so and as Marco looked between each of them, he couldn't tell which one was Ludo or not. Buff Frog's Monster and Ludo's apparent Monsters glared at each other, none saying a word, but not one refusing to break eye contact. "So are you and your boss leaving now?!" Beard Deer growled.

"Hey show some respect, Ludo is the rightful leader not that overgrown toad!" one of the rival Monsters shouted. Buff Frog's Monsters all growled at that.

"You zztill didn't anzzwer our quezztion," Boo Fly replied.

"He'll leave whenever he's ready, tiny!" a small bat Monster stated and Boo Fly quickly flew into his face.

"Izz that a challenge, zzmall fry!" the fly Monster buzzed threateningly. Marco cocked his head to the side in confusion at the remark, noticing the two were about the same size.

"So what happened then, did your boss tell you to leave because he got tired of seeing your stupid face?" Lobster Claws snapped out insultingly.

Marco was growing more and more uncomfortable by all the bad mouthing that was going on between the two groups. After all, they were all Monsters so why weren't they getting along? He tugged on Beard Deer's shirt to draw his attention to him, the Monster turning to him with surprise as if he had forgotten the boy was even there. "What's going on, Beard Deer? Why are you guys being so mean to each other?" he asked quietly, not wanting to draw any attention onto himself.

"Ludo and Buff Frog have this kinda sort rivalry going on between one another, see not only was Ludo somewhat involved with Volkoz Bulgolyubov's death, but now he's trying to claim himself as the new leader of the Monsters."

"Ohh," Marco said in understanding. No wonder his family was being so hostile, this Ludo guy sounded like bad news.

Suddenly, one of Ludo's Monsters, a warthog like creature, spotted Marco, pointing him out with his metal, meat fork hand, saying loudly and angrily, "Hey, Mewman! What do you think you are doing here?!"

Marco shrunk under the intense gaze of the Monster, the others quickly forming a protective circle around the boy, Beard Deer pushing the boy behind him. "Back off, Meat Fork! The kid is under our protection!" the deer Monster growled threateningly.

"Oh yeah!" Meat Fork replied, his own voice a low rumble. "And why is that?"

"Cause this is Buff Frog's son, idiot!" Lobster Claws shouted. "And he's also a Diaz."

The other Monsters seemed visibly unsettled by this news, several of them losing their angry glares or backing down altogether. Meat Fork, however, continued glaring at the boy, saying stonily, "Yeah, well, his parents never did anything for me, so why should I care?"

"Because you'd be defying the decree of our late great ruler, Volkoz, that's why," one of the two headed Monster stated harshly.

"And if you lay so much as a finger on Marco, I'll rip you in half with your own meat fork!" Beard Deer growled, threateningly.

Meat Fork instantly covered his metal limb with his clawed hand, looking disturbed by the threat as he said, "Hey, that's a low blow. This meat fork is a family heirloom, I'm very sensitive about it!"

Marco quickly tried to defuse the intense situation before a real fight broke out, pushing his way out of the crowd of Monsters as he said in the most calming voice he could manage, "Guys, it's okay, you don't have to fight with one another over me."

But the others didn't seem to hear him, as Lobster Claws loudly stated, "Not now, Marco! We're busy fighting over you!"

The boy didn't hesitate, as he finally got out from the cramped space, making the probably unwise decision to stand between the two riled up groups, holding his hands up to try and tell them to stop. "Wait, guys!" he commanded, trying to mimic Star's regal tone he had often heard whenever she was going full on princess mode. "You'll all Monsters, there's no reason for you all to be fighting. I'm sure we can work something out, right?"

Before a single Monster could reply, there was another loud yell from inside the house, this time from none other than Marco's adopted father. "The answer is no, Ludo!" followed by the same squeaky voice from before. "You have no right to deny what is rightfully mine!"

Everyone all shared a glance with one another, before racing back over to the door, Marco included, until they were all crowded around it in a big Monster mob, Marco somehow getting in the front of the group without being trampled or run over. The boy peeked inside, along with the Monsters, seeing his father and apparent rival, sitting across from one another at a large table, both locked in a furious death glare match. Marco had never heard such a harsh tone from his dad or seen more hatred on his face from anyone other than Toffee, but then that made sense since this Monster had apparently worked alongside the lizard at one point.

They all began quietly creeping inside and the Mewman boy directed his attention to the other occupant of the table, getting his first good look at Ludo. To Marco at least, he didn't seem all that threatening, he was a short bird Monster of some sort with green almost greyish feathers and beady yellow eyes and a sharp pointed beak. He wore a skull helmet of some kind, though what animal it was Marco didn't recognize, a long flowing dark green robe that was much too long for him and flip-flops. He was so small in fact, that he sat on a large pile of pillows just so he could see over the table.

"That's Ludo?" Marco questioned aloud.

"Yep, that's him alright," Beard Deer replied in a growl. Ludo meanwhile, was doing everything in his power to ignore the not-at-all quiet whisperings behind him, keeping his gaze level with Buff Frog.

"Wow, he looks different than I expected," Marco observed innocently, the bird man's eye twitching and his body shaking with mirth, as he tried to hold back his anger.

"I kinda thought he would be taller," Marco finished, the bird Monster suddenly snapping as he slammed his hands down on the table, yelling, "That's it!" He swerved in his seat, pointing a clawed finger at the boy and shouting, "You need to watch your mouth, brat, or I'll have my men here teach you a lesson!"

Marco was once again tightly guarded by his family, who surrounded their youngest, glaring threatening at every single Monster around them, warning them not to come anywhere close to the boy.

"You will do no such thing!" Buff Frog shouted back, rising from his seat, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

Ludo regarded the boy for a moment before asking in annoyance and confusion, "What is a Mewman doing here in the first place?"

"He is my son," Buff Frog stated. "He is allowed to be here."

The bird Monster stared at Marco for another second before bursting into laughter, causing Buff Frog and his Monsters to glare in growing anger, while Marco just looked confused and slightly embarrassed, though he had no idea why. "You- You a-adopted a Mewman!" Ludo gasped out in between fits of laughter. "Seriously!"

"Well, technically I'm only half-Mewman, my dad was a human," Marco pointed out helpfully, raising a finger in the air weakly.

"That's even worse!" Ludo exclaimed, laughing even harder now, to the point he was having trouble staying on his chair.

"That is enough, Ludo!" Buff Frog growled. "You will show my son respect."

"Respect?" Ludo scoffed, his laughter finally ceasing. "What respect does a Mewman deserve anyway? It's not like any of them have ever done anything for us before."

"Hey boss," Meat Fork suddenly spoke up, whispering into the bird-man's ear. "Before you say anything else, you should know that that kid is the son of Rafael and Angela Diaz."

"So," Ludo said, not seeming at all affected by the news. "What does that matter?"

"It means that he is under Monster protection," Buff Frog bitterly snapped. "Or have you forgotten rules?"

"Of course I remembered," Ludo said, rolling his eyes as if it was obvious, though he very clearly hadn't.

"Then perhaps you just think yourself above them," Buff Frog added with a warning frown.

Ludo growled at that, before saying through clenched teeth, "No, I was just testing to see if you remembered." He regarded Marco closely for a second, who tried not to show his awkwardness over all the intense staring directed at him. "Though, now that you mention it, I do remember Toffee talking about them quite a bit," Ludo said to Buff Frog, though his eyes remained locked on Marco."He always thought they stuck their nose where they didn't belong, I didn't really care one way or the other." Marco swallowed loudly, feeling his stomach clench, Buff Frog and the other Monsters easily picking up the hooded teen's distress, Buff Frog saying, harshly, "Enough, Ludo. I no want you upset my child. You said your piece, now leave!"

Ludo instantly swerved back around in the chair, shouting, "Not until you step down and make me the new leader of the Monsters!"

"Never!" Buff Frog yelled back, crossing his arms definitively. "You killed my father, you no deserve position!"

Ludo scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I had nothing to do with that. Toffee only said that if we joined together he would make me the new leader when the time was right. He never said anything about killing your dad."

Marco and the Monsters watched back and forth as the two leaders argument continued, getting worse and worse by the second. Buff Frog was nearly shaking with anger at this point, as he spat out, "No lie! You knew something bad would happen!"

"Look I'm the victim here, too!" Ludo said defensively, a sorrowful and wounded look in his eyes and a hurt frown on his beak. "Toffee lied and manipulated me so he could get what he wanted and then betrayed me when he was done with me!"

Not one of the rival Monsters were moved by this, giving him a long, deadpanned stare, Beard Deer muttering, "Join the club."

Ludo's face shifted to one of annoyance, dropping the act, as he childishly folded his arms in front of his chest and plopped down on his seat, yelling angrily, "Yeah well, I'm not leaving until you make me the leader!"

Marco, who had been keeping careful note of the situation, saw the look of pure frustration on his father's face and the unrelenting stubbornness of the small bird Monster and felt a desperate urge to help. He pondered for a moment, trying to think of some way he could aid his father when an idea came to mind and he smiled brightly, a fire lighting up his soul. "Maybe I can help," he subtly suggested and every head turned to him in an instant. He tried to stand tall and not shrink from all the inquisitive stares, putting on the most confident and in control face he could.

"You?" Ludo asked with disbelief. "What can you do to help?"

"Well," Marco said a little shyly, feeling his courage waver a little, before forcing himself to stand tall and puff out his chest, trying his best to replicate Star's look of assertiveness once again. "I am the Monster representative for Princess Star's peace commission. It's my job to help everyone work through a peaceful solution."

"Oh good then you can tell your father to give me power over the Monsters," Ludo replied with a smile, causing Buff Frog to frown.

"Umm, no," Marco said carefully, trying his best not to upset the small Monster. "But maybe if you two talked to each other-"

"Talking! How is talking going to make me the Monster King?!" Ludo shouted skeptically.

"That not a thing," Buff Frog replied bitterly.

"Well, I mean, it doesn't guarantee it," Marco admitted honestly. "But if you two work through your issues, maybe we can come to an agreement that makes everyone happy."

Ludo looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing a clawed finger to just below his beak, and Marco felt his hopes rising. The other Monsters all seemed unsure of what to think of the bizarre offer, a mixed set of reactions ranging from positive optimism to mistrusting opposition. Meat Fork especially looked against the idea, whispering down to Ludo again, "Boss your not really going to-"

"Shh," Ludo harshly shushed his lackey, holding up a hand, still staring off into space as he replied, "I'm thinking."

Everyone waited a few more seconds for Ludo's reply, before the Monster nodded and said, "Fine. I'm in."

Marco let out a little squeal of joy, Meat Fork and the rest of Ludo's minions giving him bizarre, disbelieving looks.

Buff Frog walked over to his son, asking quietly, "Marco, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am dad," Marco replied with a wide, confident smile. "In fact this is perfect! I get to try out my negotiating skills and help you at the same time! It's a win-win!"

Buff Frog tried not to show his concern as he saw how excited the boy was, wording his next question carefully to avoid hurting his child's feelings, "I appreciate help and I proud of what you doing, but Ludo is very stuck in ways. Once makes up his mind, it nearly impossible to change it."

"I know," Marco replied, giving his dad a pleading look. "But I'm more than prepared to deal with it. Mr. Candle gave me a bunch of books to help me and I've read all of them at least once." Buff Frog still looked unsure, so Marco went full on begging, giving his dad his signature puppy dog pout and clapping his hands together, shaking them. "Please, let me help, please, please, please!"

Buff Frog sighed, swallowing down his protective instincts before saying, "Very well, then."

"Oh thanks dad, you won't regret it!" Marco cheered, wrapping his arms around his dad in a tight hug. Buff Frog held his son close, trying to ignore the small feeling at the back of his mind that all was not right. _I hope I made the right decision,_ he thought to himself.

The second the boy pulled away he shouted, "I have to call Star!" Marco quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialing Star's number, too excited to wait any longer.

Meanwhile, Meat Fork leaned closer to his leader, still with a quizzical look on his face, as he asked, "You're not really going to go along with this, are you boss?"

"No, of course not, idiot," Ludo hissed, in a barely suppressed whisper. "I'm going to manipulate the brat into convincing his dad to step down and give the position to me." He chuckled evilly to himself for thinking of such an ingenious plan. Meat Fork didn't look so sure, asking hesitantly, "And what if you can't?"

Ludo paused, before a look of annoyance crossed his face, saying sharply, "Then we force him!" He looked back over to where his hated rival and his precious son were talking. "Just be ready if things go sour," he instructed his subordinate softly.

Ludo plastered on a wide, innocent smile as he loudly cleared his throat, drawing the attention back onto him, the hooded teen who had been on his phone quickly signed off and hung up. "So let's get started, shall we?"

…

Star sat on the grass watching as Jackie led the two twins around on her skateboards, smiling at her cousins' cuteness. Violet held onto Jackie's hand with a confident look, staring forward fearlessly, though she was standing much too high on the board. She would have long since tipped the whole thing over if her instructor hadn't noticed and made sure to hold her just far enough in front of her to counterbalance the weight.

Daisy, on the other hand, was doing just the opposite, clinging tightly onto the teen's other hand, her eyes sealed shut and her feet just barely apart. Corny was strapped tightly to her back as a makeshift backpack and wearing Jackie's helmet after Daisy had insisted he have one on too.

Star was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard a cheerful chime coming from her phone. " _Space Unicorn, soaring through the stars!_ " The girl smiled recognizing the ringtone as none other than that of her boyfriend and pulled the phone out of her pocket, putting it to her ear. "Hey Marco, what's up?"

"STAR!" Marco's excited voice yelled through the speaker, forcing Star to hold the phone away from her ear, nearly dropping it on the floor in surprise. "You'll never guess what is happening!"

"What?" Star asked curiously, leaning comfortably back on the grass, her eyes once again returning to Jackie and the twins.

"I'm helping Buff Frog with a disagreement with another Monster!" Star eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, really?!" Star asked, her voice full of pride and joy. "That's great Marco!"

"I know right!" Marco agreed, his voice practically a squeal. "Well I mean not the disagreement but y'know me getting to help."

Star chuckled. "Yeah, I got that," she said sweetly, before adding, "So who's the Monsters?"

"His name's Ludo."

Star felt her heart drop at that, saying quickly, "Wasn't that the Monster that was working with Toffee?"

"Yeah but, he didn't mean to do anything bad. Toffee manipulated him like the rest of the Monsters," Marco explained.

Star still felt uneasy, biting her lip to keep herself from disagreeing with the boy's plan, but knew she had to trust Marco, regardless of how she felt. "Okay, well, just... be careful all right."

"I will," Marco replied, his voice still ringing with excitement and Star smiled again.

"Oh and Marco," Star started.

"Yeah?" she heard him ask, the confusion in his tone obvious.

"I'm proud of you," she said sweetly. She listened for his response, almost feeling his bright blush on the other side of the phone as he paused just a bit too long.

"Th-Thanks," Marco said softly, almost shyly but she could hear a slight giddiness in his voice as well. There was another pause, Star hearing a muffled sound in the background but couldn't make it out. "I gotta go, Star," her boyfriend added a moment later, sounding hurried.

"Okay, see you later, Marco," Star said, before hanging up on the phone. She took a deep breath, trying to remind herself not to worry over him. This was his job, after all. She would have to get used to him doing that kind of stuff if he was gonna to stay a member of her peace commission and she would never, _ever_ take that away from him. She just needed to stop worrying about him so much, it was unhealthy. Besides, if things did somehow go south then Buff Frog and the others would be there to protect him.

Her mind suddenly flashed back against her will to Toffee's castle, watching helplessly from the other side of an unbreakable wall as the lizard took away the most precious thing in her world, and she shuddered. _No_ , she firmly reminded herself. _That won't happen again. Marco's fine._

A call from Violet broke Star out of her thoughts, causing the girl to jump. "Hey Star, look at this!"

The blond looked over to see her small cousin now standing on the skateboard without Jackie to hold her hand, flying solo while the skater girl watched her closely. She had fixed the position of her feet so she was in the center of the board, instead of the very front, after Jackie had redirected her on how to stand. Daisy was still holding Jackie's hand, though she had opened her eyes and moved her feet just a little further apart, as well as no longer squeezing the life out of poor Jackie's wrist, so it was progress at least.

Star smiled and clapped at her little cousin's accomplishment, doing her best to push her worries and thoughts of Marco to the very back of her mind and focus back on spending time with her young family members. She silenced the last of the troubling thoughts with a final, confirming one of her own, _Marco will be fine._

…

Marco took in a deep breath, gathering his nerves, as he took his place at the head of the table, looking between the two Monsters to his left and right. Buff Frog was watching Ludo with a suspicious, almost warning glare, while the bird Monster seemed oddly chipper, which only doubled the amphibian's mistrust. He racked his brain for a moment, biting his lip as he tried to think of where to begin, his mind suddenly drawing a firm blank. _Come on, Marco this is not the time for you to shut down_ , he reminded himself. But he had. The pressure of the situation had already gotten to him, his mind betraying him as it reminded him of what was at stake should he fail, and all the stares on him were not helping his concentration any, either. He suddenly wanted the floor to just open up and swallow him whole as he fought back a blush.

But he pushed past these irrational fears, taking back control of his mind with a small reminder that his parents never backed down and neither would he. So not knowing what else to do, he cleared his throat and said the only thing that came to mind, "Buff Frog, why don't you tell Ludo how you feel?"

Ludo and his lackeys all rolled their eyes, but Buff Frog face didn't change in the slightest as he obliged his son and said, "I feel I don't trust Ludo, I still think he had something to do with father's death."

Marco nodded, trying to keep on a professional face as he turned to Ludo and asked, "And Ludo how does that make you feel?"

"Ridiculous," Ludo muttered under his breath in annoyance. Marco hadn't caught it though, asking, "What?"

"I said I'm hurt that Buff Frog would accuse me of something like that without any proof," Ludo said, loud enough so the boy could hear, putting on a sad face.

Buff Frog fists clenched but he didn't react other than that, his gaze stony. "Okay," Marco said, turning back to his dad, who met his eye for a second. "And dad, do you have any proof that Ludo killed your dad?" The hooded teen made sure to keep his voice light but apologetic so as not to upset his adopted father.

Buff Frog shook his head. "No is just feeling," the amphibian replied honestly.

"And what makes you think that?" Marco asked.

"Because his family and mine have been at odds for generations."

Marco was surprised by that response, asking confused, "Wait, what?"

Buff Frog locked gaze with his son again as he explained, "Ludo's family bitter because their ancestors lost right to power to mine."

"Because you cheated," Ludo yelled, suddenly infuriated. "My family would have won that battle if you stupid frogs hadn't kept jumping out of the way of all of our attacks!"

"We frogs, that what we do," Buff Frog commented, with zero emotion. "Besides your family can fly. How that fair?"

"Well, not all of us can! And that's not the point!" Ludo shouted defensively.

The two glared harshly at each other and Marco knew he had to quickly interject before he lost control of the situation. "Okay, okay," Marco said in the most calming voice he could. "So yeah, both of your families may have fought in the past but that doesn't mean you have to."

"I want what is rightfully mine, Buff Frog!" Ludo yelled, ignoring Marco altogether.

"You can't have it, Ludo! I worked too long to give it up now!" Buff Frog shouted back, his accent laced with venom. "I not risk same thing happened with Toffee to happen again!"

Marco tried not to panic, as the two continued to fight, but realized he was in way over his head here. No amount of studying could have prepared him for this. This was different from the books he had read, much more complex than most scenarios it had presented. The scars for this problem ran deep. He tried to keep steady, even breaths as he pondered a way to resolve this conflict. What would his parents do in this situation? At this thought, the boy felt a soft glowing in his cheeks and suddenly shouted, "Enough!"

The room went dead quite, everyone looking at Marco in pure shock and awe, none of them, not even Buff Frog and the rest of his Monster family had ever heard the boy shout like that. But the boy didn't back down as he added, "That was a long time ago and you're both holding on to things you can't change! The past is the past, there is no since in fighting over something you two had nothing to do with in the first place!"

The boy panted for a moment, the heat in his cheeks fading, as he looked around at the Monsters, who were all staring at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed. _Where had that come from?_ He wondered to himself, but didn't waste too much time dwelling on it, taking advantage of the Monsters shocked position to say in a much softer tone, "Now can you both agree to forgive each other and let go of the past?"

The boy looked between the two Monster leaders for a moment, Ludo crossing his arms and plopping down onto his pile of pillows grumpily, not looking in either of their direction. Buff Frog, meanwhile, had a sheepish look on his face, but seemed hesitant to speak. Finally, he matched his son's gaze and sighed deeply, before saying, "I apologize if Ludo does."

"What! I'm not apologizing for-" Ludo started to say, but a loud cough from Meat Fork for some reason stopped Ludo from continuing. He frowned for a second, before plastering on a fake smile, saying in a stained tone, "I mean, yes of course. I'm sorry Buff Frog."

Buff Frog eyed him suspiciously for a second before saying blankly, "I sorry too."

"See, that wasn't so hard!" Marco complimented the both of them, Ludo grumbling something incoherent under his breath. "We're making some real progress, guys!" the Mewman boy shouted energetically, pumping a fist into the air, but when no one cheered or reacted in any way and he quickly took his seat again, his face flushing bright red. He coughed, trying to recover from his embarrassment, before continuing, "So now that we got that out of the way... umm, Ludo you said you worked with Toffee before he betrayed you, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Ludo said bitterly, as old wounds were reopened for the small bird Monster.

"What exactly did you work together on?" Marco asked.

Ludo sighed, looking sorrowfully at the ceiling, as he recounted the memory. "I helped him discredit Volkoz and Buff Frog so that he could rise in power. The deal was once the two of them were out of the way, I would be made leader." Ludo's face twisted into an angry frown, his voice steadily rising. "Instead, he took it all for himself and left me with nothing. I was swept away and forgotten about and every attempt I made to gain it back, Toffee would push me right back down again! But I'll get even with him! Now that's he's out of the way, nothing will stop me from having my revenge! _I'll show that stupid lizard who the real leader is!_ "

"Ludo?" Marco said, trying to break him from his venom-fueled enchantment, the small bird seething with pent-up rage toward the hated lizard. "Ludo? LUDO?!" Marco yelled this time, finally gaining the Monster's attention. "Look I know you were hurt by what Toffee did, but so was everyone else. Toffee betrayed all of us and we all got hurt by him in some way." He paused as he tenderly rubbed his neck, cringing openly. "That's why me and Buff Frog and the other Monsters are all trying to work on some way to repair all the damage Toffee's done. He left the world in a really bad place, but maybe with your help we can make things better." Marco smiled genuinely at the Monster as he added, "What do you say?"

Ludo eyed the boy for a second before asking, "Does this mean you're going to make me the Monster King?"

The smile instantly fell from Marco's face, as Buff Frog snapped, "No, it does not." He rolled his eyes as he added, "There no such thing.""

"M-Maybe we can work something out," Marco stuttered nervously, sweat dripping down his face as he struggled to remain calm. He was losing control of the situation again.

"No bother, Marco," Buff Frog said to his son, but his eyes were on Ludo, glaring openly. "He is not going to change mind."

"No wait!" Marco quickly shouted, standing up from his chair, leaning heavily against the table as he whipped his head to the bird Monster once more. "Ludo, come on, there has to be some way you would agree to some sort of compromise?!"

"Instead of asking me, you should be asking your dad!" Ludo said, quickly turning the situation on its head as he pointed an accusing finger at Buff Frog. "He's the one who's being selfish and unwilling to negotiate! If I was made leader I would be happy to go along with your plan, but no Buff Frog just wants to horde all the power for himself!"

Marco looked over at his father, waiting to see his reaction, but Buff Frog had gone stiff and still, his eyes betraying no emotion whatsoever and that startled Marco so much more. He knew all too well that sometimes people were the most dangerous when they went quiet, the silence and wait almost as unnerving as when they did finally snap. He hated to see his father so void of feeling and felt his chest clench itself into tight knots. "Dad," Marco began. "I know that's not true."

"Of course it is!" Ludo continued, his voice a high-pitched shout, the words digging deep into Marco's skull and then stabbing themselves into his brain. "Face it kid, your dad is a selfish jerk! I mean, he could have stopped Toffee at any time but instead he allowed him to get stronger and then stood back and let your parents die!"

Guilt flooded Buff Frog's face and Marco felt tears start to flood his vision as he said in a loud, confident tone, "That's not true. That wasn't Buff Frog's fault. He just didn't know what to do to stop Toffee, that's all. And he would never betray my parents like that. He loved them and he loves me and you have no right to call him selfish, cause he gave up everything to keep me safe!"

Marco just stood there with tears still in his eyes that had yet to spill, as he stared at Ludo. Buff Frog looked touched at the boy's words, his face softening as he whispered, "Marco..."

"Yeah well, it doesn't matter. That position is supposed to be mine! It was promised to me, it is my birthright and I'm not letting anyone take it away from me again, especially not you and your father!" Ludo yelled. Then he turned to one of his minions and shouted, "Meat Fork, now!"

It happened at lightening speed, but to Buff Frog and his Monsters it was like it was happening in slow motion, all of them too invested in the conversation to take note of just how close Meat Fork had gotten to Marco's chair, so none of them were ready or able to stop him, as the Monster in question went to stab Marco with his metal hand. Luckily, the boy saw the attack coming out of the corner of his eye and his instincts took over as he put his feet on the side of the table and pushed, effectively tipping his chair backward and narrowly avoiding being impaled.

Before the Monster could go in for another strike, he was tackled by Buff Frog, who slammed him down on the ground, hissing out, "Stay away from my son!"

After that, the tense atmosphere of the country home exploded into an all-out battle, pitting Monster against Monster, minion against minion, as they all violently clashed with one another. Well all except Ludo who was content just to watch the whole thing from his chair, yelling commands to his minions as the battle raged, even though the only name of them he had memorized was that of his second-in-command.

"No you idiot, not that way!"

"Don't just stand there and take it, you fool!"

"Stop getting beat up! He's just a stupid fly!"

Marco tried to gain back control of the situation as he yelled over to them, "Wait, stop! There's no need to fight one another. Let's just go back to- ahh!" Marco screamed and ducked, narrowly missing getting hit in the head by a flying chair and he quickly hid beneath the table.

The hooded teen continued to watch with a frown as his family effectively fought off the enemy Monsters with no trouble. This was not going the way he had planned. Suddenly, his phone rang and he answered it without looking away from all the fighting. "Hello?"

"Hey Marco, how's it going?" It was Star. Marco felt his heart race, as he looked up at all the Monsters still deep in their intense brawl.

"Uhh, we're hitting a bit of rough patch right now," he said nervously.

"What's all that noise?" Star asked, concern ringing in her tone.

"Oh um, well negotiations sorta fell apart and they all started, um, hitting each other," he replied, trying to ease her into the news gently to avoid freaking his girlfriend out.

"WHAT?!" Star screamed and Marco cringed, knowing he had failed in that regard.

"No, no, it's okay," Marco weakly reassured her. "I've still got this under control. They just need to work out their anger is all. And once they're through and they've got everything out in the open then we'll go back to talking."

"Marco I don't think that's how that works," Star pointed out, still sounding beside herself with worry.

"Well I read it in one of my books once," Marco said defensively.

"Look Marco I think you need to-" Marco never heard the end of what Star was about to say as something grabbed him by the back of his hood and pulled him out from under the table, causing the boy to drop his phone and let out a startled scream. This drew everyone's attention, the fighting instantly ceasing as everyone turned to see Meat Fork throw the boy across the room, his side slamming into the wall, injuring his shoulder and causing his vision to spin.

"No, leave him out of this!" Buff Frog yelled his voice broken by both anger and fear, but he was too far away to reach them in time.

Meat Fork drew closer, Marco still trying to recover from the impact of his fall, rubbing absentmindedly at his head, trying his best to get his bearings back, as he looked around with blurry, disoriented vision, every voice sounding faded and far away. Buff Frog felt a deep, primal fear fill him as Meat Fork raised a foot up to kick the unsuspecting Marco and Buff Frog opened his mouth to shout at him to stop, the others doing the same when a portal opened up and a blast of magical energy shot out of it, instantly striking Meat Fork and sending him flying far away from Marco.

Star stepped out of it a second later, holding a smoking wand in front of her, her eyes scanning the faces of the Monsters for a moment. Buff Frog and the rest of his allies let out a sigh of relief.

Ludo on the other hand looked furious and confused at the sudden intrusion. "What, another Mewman?! Who the heck is this one?!" the bird Monster yelled. The blond spotted Marco and instantly ran to his side, shouting, "Marco, are you okay?!"

"Star?" Marco said, still tenderly rubbing his head.

"Seriously, who are you?!" Ludo asked again rudely and Star turned to him with fire in her eyes.

"I'm Princess Star Butterfly," the girl spat, bitterly. "And I'm not happy that you just attacked my boyfriend!"

Ludo looked disinterested, waving off the girl's anger like it was no big deal. "I didn't attack him, he was just in the middle of a fight, he was bound to get hurt."

Star's hand clenched into a tight fist as she shouted, "Marco had nothing to do with this fight, he was trying to prevent this! He only wanted to help you!"

Ludo rolled his eyes. "Oh please, the only way that boy could help us is if he convinced his dad to give me my rightful position," the Monster muttered irritably.

Buff Frog grabbed the small Monster by his oversized robe, making him squeak, lifting him up so they were face to face as he growled, "I willing to negotiate but moment you attacked my son you lost privilege." He threw the Monster to the ground, the other Monsters shouting, "Boss!" and rushing to his side.

Ludo slowly sat up a look of fury on his face, as he glared daggers up at Buff Frog. "How dare you treat me with such disrespect!" the Monster growled.

Buff Frog showed no signs of remorse or guilt, as he stared down at the Monster with a stony gaze and stated in a commanding, booming voice that echoed through every corner of the country home, "For your treachery and breaking decree by late leader Volkoz Bulgolyubov, I hereby banish you, Ludo Avairus, from Monster land and any who follow you! May you be seen as traitor for rest of days."

"What?!" Ludo screeched, his eyes blown wide with shock. "Y-You can't do that!"

"I already did," Buff Frog said, his voice low but dangerous. "Now get out of my house."

Ludo's face twisted into one of pure hate and anger as he turned to Marco, who now stood by Star's side having recovered from the attack, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You! You are the one who did this to me! This is all your fault!"

"What, no I," Marco whispered softly, his eyes full of guilt. Star put her arms around the boy in a protective and comforting hug.

"Don't put the blame on Marco. You brought this on yourself, Ludo," Star snapped.

Beard Deer and Bearicorn grabbed the bird Monster by other arm dragging him to the door, as he continued to screech his complaints and his plans for retaliation, putting up a fight every step of the way. "This isn't over! I will get even with you Buff Frog! Just you wait! _Just you wait_!"

He was flung out the door, his minions following after their leader, shooting hateful glares as they exited the house as well. The second the last Monster was out the door, Marco collapsed to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Marco?" Star said in concern, bending down to his side and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I failed!" he cried. "I couldn't do it, because of me a Monster just got banished!"

"No, Marco. You didn't fail, Ludo just didn't listen," Star reassured him.

Marco's turned to her, suddenly as he shouted in distress, "My parents would have been able to get him to listen! Instead, I let them and Buff Frog and you down! I'm a disappointment!"

Star pulled him into a tight hug, as Buff Frog came closer, lowering himself so he was level with his child. "My boy, you are never disappointment. I love you and so did parents. They failed many times as well. There were many they unable to turn with words. Some have too much hate to change."

"Really?" Marco said softly.

Buff Frog nodded, as he gently cupped his son's cheek in his claw. "Da. But every failure, they carry on, they keep fighting and you must as well."

Marco gave his dad a little smile, before he clutched onto his head in panic once again as a new fear surfaced in his eyes. "But how am I supposed to help bring peace to all of Mewni if I can't even help you solve one Monster's problem?" The boy's breath was shallow, as he clung to small strands of his brown hair.

Star gently grabbed his hands, removing them from his skull and he looked to her with surprise, forgetting his panic as his cheeks flushed. She gave him a long, loving look as she said softly, "You already brought peace to Mewni, Marco, remember? You did something that no one else could. You may not have been able to turn Ludo, but there will be plenty of chances to help the rest of the Monsters see the right way. You just need a little more practice is all."

He gave Star a grateful smile. "Well I am a fast learner," Marco joked quietly.

"Yeah you are," she said, running a hand through his hair once, before pulling him in for another hug. Buff Frog and the rest of the Monsters joined in, the boy closing his eyes as he soaked in the moment.

"Thanks everyone," Marco said cheerfully, feeling his heart warm surrounded by the loving embrace of his family.

The Monsters pulled away and Marco asked his girlfriend, "So how were you able to open up that portal so fast, anyway? Weren't you at the castle?"

Star blushed bright red, as she stuttered out, "Oh, um, well... the thing is, um- I just..." She let out a deep sigh, before confessing, "I was sorta waiting nearby, just in case you needed me."

"Star, you didn't have to do that," Marco told her and she lowered her head in shame.

"Yeah, I know. I should trust you. But I couldn't stop thinking about what if something happened. And-And- I just worry about you is all," Star admitted, absentmindedly playing with a strand of hair. "Sorry," she muttered shamefully.

Marco surprised Star with a quick kiss on the lips, before he told her, "Don't be," he said joyfully. "I think it's sweet. It's good to know you'll always be here for me. I always feel safe with you around."

Star blushed beet red, her heart cheek marks thumping against her will, as she stared deep into the chocolate brown of his eyes. "But please don't worry about me, Star?" Marco asked, his voice still tender and light. "I'm fine. It doesn't all fall to you. I have lots of people looking after me. So you can relax, okay?"

Star nodded slowly, saying, "Yeah, you're right, Marco." She paused before adding in a whisper, "And I will _always_ be here for you." Then she kissed him again and the boy melted into it, kissing her back tenderly as it deepened, their cheek marks once again turning bright white.

While the two teens were still lost in their conversation and kiss, Buff Frog and the Monsters were quietly discussing much more pressing matters, out of ear shot of their young charge and his girlfriend. "What are we gonna do about Ludo, boss?" Lobster Claws asked.

"Yeah, you heard what he said and that little guy is really persistent," Bearicorn added.

Three Eyed Potato Baby garbled something, that almost none of them could understand, Buff From turning to Lobster Claws who quickly translated, "He said that without Toffee, there is no one to keep Ludo from doing whatever he wants."

Buff Frog sighed, before saying darkly, "I fear you all right. This is not last we see of Ludo, my friends. Even banishment not enough to stop him from revenge. Though hopefully will delay. Still, must keep eye open." He turned to the crustacean, saying, "And Lobster Claw. I have job for you."

Lobster Claws did a quick salute, saying bravely, "Sure thing, boss. Whatever you need."

The frog looked over his shoulder, making sure the boy couldn't hear, but he was deep in a kiss with his girlfriend. Still the amphibian pulled his ally close and lowered his voice to that of a whisper as he commanded, "Keep eye on Marco. Do not let him out of sight."

Lobster Claws nodded, puffing his chest out as he proudly stated, "You can count on me, boss. I won't let you down."

Buff Frog nodded, saying, "Good. Now biggest worry is how many fall to Ludo's side. I must keep control of Monsters or Ludo take it away from me again."

"Don't worry, boss. Everyone knows your our real leader. No one's going to follow Ludo, especially after you banished him. And the few who do aren't really worth having around anyway," Beard Deer said and the others all nodded.

"And we'll do what we can to keep the Monsters feeling safe," Marco suddenly said behind them, the Monsters turning to see Star and Marco now joining in on the conversation with bright smiles and flushed cheeks, their hands intertwined.

"Once we get the commission going that is," Star added, sheepishly. There were still a few things that needed to be finished before it was ready.

Buff Frog nodded and said, "You two do that. We do what we can here." His serious face softened into a smile as he added, "But that can wait for another day. Right now, I want spend time with my son."

Marco beamed from ear to ear at that, his eyes shimmering with joy at the idea of some quality time with his father as he gave him a tight hug, loudly stating, "Yes, that sounds awesome, dad! I have so much to tell you!"

"I can't wait to hear it," Buff Frog said warmly.

Star began slowly backing up, pulling out her dimensional scissors from her purse. "Well you all have fun, I better head back," she said, pointing her thumb behind her, excusing herself. "Violet will be super upset if she finds out that we both came to see you guys without her."

"Okay, bye Star," Marco said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Bye Marco," she replied, cutting open a portal and stepping through. Once it closed, Buff Frog turned to Marco with confusion, asking, "Who's Violet?"

"My little sister," Marco replied simply.

Every Monster blinked once, their eyes suddenly wide. "Uhhh, come again," Bearicorn stuttered, him and every other Monsters mind spinning as they tried to comprehend the boy's words.

"I think we need you explain," Buff Frog added, looking downright disturbed.

…

Ludo stomped his way through the forest, his minions following reluctantly behind him, watching as their leader seethed with rage, muttering choice words under his breath. "Stupid, rotten Buff Frog. How dare he banish me. I'll show him."

"Uhh, boss," Meat Fork finally spoke up and the small bird Monster sighed, before snapping, "What?!"  
"What's the plan?"

"The plan is we get even with that rotten Buff Frog and take the throne back by force!" Ludo shouted, his eyes practically ablaze with rage, his tiny claws clutching his staff so tight, it looked like it might bend.

"How are we gonna do that?" Meat Fork asked. "Buff Frog and his lackeys are better than us. We'd never beat them in a fair fight and I doubt any of the other Monsters will join us now that we're traitors."

Ludo turned his back on his minion, as he continued storming along. "Then we don't fight fair." His tone was hard and left no room for argument, his mind spinning as he tried to think of the perfect scheme to take his position back from that miserable toad. "I just need to think of the perfect plan and then I will be ruler once more." His screeching voice raised, as he proclamation echoed through the forest around him. "Just you wait Buff Frog. I, Ludo Avarius, _will_ be the Monster King!"

…

"Uh boss, pretty sure that still isn't a thing."

"Shut up, Meat Fork! Your ruining my dramatic moment!"

 **Haha, I couldn't resist a little comedy there at the end. Ludo is such a fun character, I don't know why? XD I hope you enjoyed! This one turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself and it is a bit of a relief to write a bit shorter of a chapter. Not by much, but when most of them are over like twenty pages long, this one felt like a nice break. Not sure what to expect on the length of the next one, but it will probably be long... because it's me, haha!**

 **It was also fun to get to show some Monster family love, especially from Buff Frog! Speaking of which, I think I'm kinda hopeless guys, because when I was watching the "Coronation" episode for the first time and Buff Frog pulled Marco and Tom out of harm's way, my first thought was: "Oh, look at that. Buff Dad protecting his child, what a good father." And then I had a moment of clarity when I remembered that he's not actually Marco's dad in the cannon! XD Oh boy, I'm mistaking my fanfiction for cannon now, what's wrong with me?!**

 **So next up on the list is the one you all have been asking about for a while now, the redemption chapter of Tom, one of my all time favorite characters! Oh and Pony Head, too, I guess. :) Just kidding. I like Pony, but Tom is just so great, I love him. Anyways I will be hard at work on that and I will see you all next time!**

 **Gamelover41592- Thanks! Yeah I enjoy cute moments (especially for Marco) so I love working them into the story! Along with drama, romance, and comedy which I also enjoy! Yeah, I'm glad Glossaryk is here, too! He does have that off-brand sense of humor that is fun to play around with!**

 **D4rK Sid3- Aww, thank you, I try! Oh good my Glossaryk came across well, phew that's a relief. Haha, yeah I didn't really change anything for him when I put him in this one, because he is really one of a kind! Ohhh, um, *cough, cough* no, not yet. Remember they still think they have the upper hand, sending Glossaryk to go mess up Star's plans instead. Buuuutttt someone does try his hand at messing things up for them in this chapter! *subtly gestures to the chapter* hehe, hope you enjoy!**

 **Reverseflash- Yeah I know it's a tempting idea and all, but like I said I'm really only planning on using Star vs characters so-**

 **Bill: Aw, come on. Just give em what they want.**

 **Bill? What are you doing here?**

 **Bill: Hey, you referenced me, so now you get to deal with me.**

 ***sighs* Oh great.**

 **Bill: Besides your forgetting I am cannon to Star vs.**

 **What, how are you... Marco Live Chat.**

 **Bill: Bingo. *turns to Reverseflash* But hey kid, if you want me to make it so that thDorkMagnet here makes a chapter of me all you have to do is make a deal with me.**

 **Cipher! Stop trying to make deals with my readers!**

 **Anyways, I can't make any promises, but I'll think about it. I could do a side chapter of him (wouldn't be the first time I decided to do one of those) or have him pop up again every once in a while, I won't be giving him a major roll since I have most of the story already plotted out but like I said, we'll see. ;)**

 **Yeah I guess that is strange considering how much I love Janna. But, I don't know, he was just sorta put off for me in the show. Jannabannna is always sorta just there to annoy Marco and stuff, but never really makes things worse for everyone. Glossaryk was just unhelpful or a downright traitor in the show. There were a few moments of his I liked but overall, eh, not my favorite, y'know. Sorry I don't want to turn this into a bashing fest since there are people who enjoy him, haha.**

 **Yeah, I decided to make him retired from that job, for reasons. He used to live in the book but somewhere along the line decided that he was no longer needed and instead spends his time annoying everyone he can and maybe providing a little bit of wisdom along the way. Though I am glad you think he was in character, I didn't really change much for him personality wise since I felt he fit as he was and it did make for a pretty good chapter!**

 **No, you are right there, Moon didn't use the darkest spell on Toffee so Eclipsa can't get out that way. And that's really all that I can say about that without delving into spoiler territory. Haha, sorry. Also yeah Star does have the spellbook, can't remember if I said so or not, just no Glossaryk to act as instructor, she's self-taught.**

 **Well I am glad you like my Marco and that he is a selling point for you, but I can also understand your want for him to be a skilled fighter. I still don't really plan on using him that way, he's just not a fighter. I am trying to find a good balance between being not too weak but not too strong, which is why I have him training with Higgs so when he does get into a fight he won't be a punching bag, but he won't exactly be the strong, confident fighter he is in the show, either. Speaking of which, oh my gosh, that scene is incredible! I love Marco just so easily, confidently, and smoothly he takes on all of the knights and beats them with ease. It is a great scene and I love how much he's grown and matured! Sure I think some of it was due to the fact that they are all kinda incompetent in some way, but they were still trained and so him beating them without breaking a sweat just shows the long way he's come. I'm so proud of the boy! Thanks for the review!**

 **KairaB- Hello there, I'm glad your enjoying! Thanks, I try! Marco is pretty great, there is a reason I made him the main, after all! And Starco moments are just too much fun! That is a good question, though. I would say that I am definitely keeping it as is. His cheek marks are just too important to the core of the story that it wouldn't make sense to change it now. I mean, it is literally the title! But hey, that is why it's alternate universe after all. Plus I like that it shows Star and Marco being opposites, as different as night and day, but still being stronger together and belonging with one another. :)**

 **Nice catch, by the way. I didn't even realize it was wrong until you pointed it out! XD The name I used was from this anime I had been watching recently and it just sorta worked it's way into my subconscious I guess. I fixed it, so thank you for pointing it out!**

 **Funny you should ask, the next one up is the Tom and Pony Head redemption! Haha, I liked Pony all the way through, but I can see others not feeling the same. But don't worry, my little flame boy is going to get his time to shine! And I love his and Marco's bro bond too much not to use it in here! As well as some more Jantom, because they are perfect for one another!**

 **I hope you like this one and the next one whenever it comes out! Thank you, I definitely will!**

 **Monkey lover 911- The twins are in this one but they won't meet the Monsters until two chapters from now. I didn't want to squeeze it in last minute, plus I know what I want to do with it sooo... But don't worry it is coming soon! Glossaryk might be helpful in some way in the future, but mostly he's just there, eating pudding and being weird, haha. Thanks you for the review as always friend!**

 **Sugar- Yep, he sure can! He was just startled to hear his voice inside his head! XD Also, I agree, stay as far away from Bill as possible, Marco! You are too innocent and pure and he will surely corrupt you! Hahahah. I couldn't resist, the opportunity was there and I had to take it! That is a good question, I hadn't really thought of what Star would be called. You are right, "Shooting Star" is already taken. I do really like "Space Unicorn" but I feel "Little Wand" or something like that would be the most appropriate. I feel Bill would incorporate her name in with her magical power source.**

 **Oh you are so welcome! I do love spreading the love to my fellow writers and you are someone who's opinion I think of very highly so I just had to recommend you! :) Oooh, I might just check that out! It sounds pretty cool!**

 **I'm glad you liked this one! Haha, maybe. We'll see! That one is up next! :3 The Jantom episode in the show was amazing! And honestly, just any moment of interaction with those two! I'm fine that they didn't end up together, it would have been too soon for Tom. I like to think that they ended up together after the fact and I like that the show left that open for us so that we can decide! But not me! Jantom will be cannon on here, though it may be a bit! ^U^**

 **Guest- Sorry they're dead. I didn't show the bodies because I didn't want to show any gruesome or gory stuff. I try to keep this as kid friendly as I can. Originally I was going to show the scene of them dying but I felt it was too intense for my readers and honestly would have been too much for me to write. As great as it would be for them to be alive and Marco to meet them, sadly they aren't coming back.**

 **Viceversa96- ch. 3- Well what do you know, someone is actually asking for them to fight! Haha, yeah I get it. There is no such thing as a perfect relationship and every couple has to have their disagreements, it's just unavoidable. I will just have to make sure that when it happens, it's believable. The way I picture it is one of them says something that upsets the other, the other accidentally does the same and they end up blaming themselves and find themselves arguing over which of them was in the wrong. Hmm, I'll keep thinking on this, thanks. And also, they totally won't stay mad for long. Probably even less time than in the show, considering, not sure on the when yet, but we'll see. I hope you continue loving the dorks long into the future!**

 **ch. 7- Oh good question! Honestly, I guess I did make things way too vague to form a real connection. I will try and give more on that as the story goes on, maybe like a flashback or something. Basically, she was put in the conformity chamber at one point and was starved and maybe even struck by Heinous whenever she disobeyed. Mostly it was psychological. She would be regularly locked in a small, dark space for long periods of time and talked down to by Heinous quite a bit, she reinforced the message that she was worthless and incapable of being loved as she was unless she acted perfect. Probably should have included that in there in the Scars chapter but eh, live and learn. Hopefully, you can sympathize some better with her now.**

 **Velcious- Haha, hey there glad you decided to join in on this wild ride! Thank you so, so much! I worked really hard to craft each character to fit perfectly into the story and make them all my own! Marco is my favorite, I spent probably the most amount of time on him and it so good to know that you like him! I walk a fine line between having him be in need of others help or protection but still able to lend them a hand as well. And yes, Marco is always adorable!**

 **Well you may have started the show late but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy it! Starco is just so precious and I love their interactions both in the show and in the fanbase. I am sad that the show is over, but to be honest the fanbase was my favorite part in the first place. It's just so rich and full of greatness that I find myself loving it more than the show itself. For me, Starco will always live on in the Stardom! And I will do my best to give you the Starco moments that show will no longer provide!**

 ***blushing furiously*That is so, so nice of you to say! Thank you so much! Honestly I'm not sure this story is worthy of that much praise! I just write what I like, but put as much effort into it as I can. And I really do love writing the sweet moments! I'm a bit of a sappy romantic so it tends to blend into my writing really well!**

 **Again, thank you, friend, and I hope you continue to enjoy! *Hugs!***

 **Logar3- Hehe, thanks! o^W^o I am still going, actually! I try to post as regularly as I can, but life gets in the way so my posting can be all over the place sometimes. I do leave a next update at the bottom, though that is mostly there as a way to keep my procrastinating mind in check and motivate me to actually work on this, so it isn't exact. So yeah, needless to say, there will be plenty more to read in the future!**

 **Yay, I'm glad you like my Marco! I spent so much time crafting his character its always good to know it was time well spent! Originally it was just a straight up personality swap of Star and Marco but I ended up changing it so they were more rounded and unique characters. Marco is my baby and my pride and joy of this story! Thanks for the kind and uplifting words, friend! *Hugs!***

 **Next Update: 2 weeks**


	27. Making Amends

Chapter 26: Making Amends

 **Hey Stardom and happy two year anniversary of Light of the Sun and Stars! Yep, that's right, I've been doing this for a full two years now and wow I just can't even begin to thank you all enough for supporting me and sticking with me this long! I love all every single favorite, follow, and review that I get from all you wonderful people and it means so much to me that you guys love reading this story as much as I love making it! I mean thanks to you all I'm at 311 followers at the time of this posting, and like wow, that is so, _so_ incredible guys! I hope this next year will be even better and that you all stay around long into the future! I love you guys and I mean it! **

**So since it is the anniversary and everything I wanted to give you one doozy of a chapter and (hopefully) that's what I got for you all today! You guys have been asking for it and now you shall get it, the redemption of Tom and Pony Head! Haha, this one was going to be a later chapter originally but I didn't think you guess could wait that long and honestly it just made more logical sense to put it in here, so I hope you all enjoy everyone! And thanks for reading!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"What are we gonna do?" Tom exclaimed in worry, frustratingly pacing back and forth around his room, leaving a trail of flames in his wake. "It's been weeks and she's still not talking to us. She hasn't answered any of our calls or even tried to reach out to us in any way. I know Star's mad, but I figured she'd be at least trying to make up with us by now," the boy continued, his voice a nervous whine, looking far more vulnerable than he would normally allow himself to show.

He turned to his companion for support, but Pony Head didn't look nearly as concerned by their friend's cold treatment, looking more interested in trying to stay cool than their failing friendship. Her tongue was sticking out and sweat was pouring off of her as she lay next to a tiny fan which blew a small stream of air onto her hot face. "Pony Head are you even listening?" Tom asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm trying, but it's kinda hard when I'm literally burning alive over here," Pony snapped. "Is there no way for you to turn the heat down a little or something?"

"No, in case you forgot, this is the Underworld, it's supposed to be this way," Tom replied, crossing his arms across his chest angrily.

"You need to work on getting your hands onto some air conditioning, boy," Pony said, snarkily.

"Pony, focus!" Tom yelled with narrowed eyes, his cheek flames burning out of control and his eyes flashing red for half a second. "We have a serious problem on our hands! Star still hates us, remember?"

"Ohh, yeah and that, like, doesn't even make any sense because I'm so lovable," Pony said sadly, a pouting look on her face. "I even sent over her favorite food: candy casserole and she sent it back and even beat up the person I sent or whatever."

Tom was shocked by this at first, until a thought occurred to him. "Wait," he began suspiciously. "You didn't use the ransomgram creature to deliver it to her, did you?"

Pony was silent for a moment, just laying there in silence, and Tom face-palmed. "Geez Pony, really," he sighed, running his hand down his face.

"Oh whatever, I don't see you doing much better, hot head!" Pony shouted defensively.

Tom growled, pointing an accusing finger at his friend, " Yeah well your the one who said Star would come around on her own and yet here we are. No Star."

The two glared at one another for a moment, their tempers almost as intense as the temperature of the room. Almost. Finally, Tom seemed to get a hold of himself, taking in a deep calming breath, before saying in a still slightly irritated tone, "This isn't getting us anywhere. Us being at each other's throats isn't going to bring Star back."

"Agreed," Pony said. She got a mischievous look on her face, as she sneakily said, "What we really need is someone on the inside. Someone who can convince Star to give us another chance."

"Yeah, like who?" Tom asked.

"Like that one girl that's always wearing that beanie," Pony suggested.

Tom's cheeks flushed, his eyes widening as he quickly squeaked out, "Nope." He cleared his throat, before continuing, "No way, th-that's a bad idea. We should keep Janna as far away from me- I-I mean us, as possible."

Pony raised an eyebrow, saying teasingly, "Hoo, someone's got it baaaaddd."

"I-I don't know what your talking about," Tom said, averting his eyes from his friend, trying to will down his blushing cheeks, rubbing at the back of his neck. He coughed once, awkwardly, before continuing, "It's just that she's totally unpredictable. We can't trust her with something this important."

"Uh huh," Pony said in disbelief, a taunting smile still on her lips. "And you're sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she kissed you at the Blood Moon Ball?"

The boy's eyes widened. "What?! How did you know about that?"

"I didn't till just now," Pony replied, looking as annoying as ever. The boy growled, knowing Pony would never let him live that down and he had several years of merciless teasing to look forward to because of it. "Can we just focus on Star, please?" the boy demanded, between clenched teeth.

Pony actually did let it slide (for now), saying, "Yeah well, if we ain't using Janna, then we're gonna need someone even closer to her. Someone she trusts. Someone she listens to... and someone who is easy to convince." She emphasized the last part, giving her friend a long, knowing look, trying to silently indicate the person they both knew fit that description perfectly.

Tom stared at her for only a second before groaning loudly. "Really, him! Why him?"

"Why not?" Tom didn't answer that and Pony slyly added, "C'mon, it's the only way we're going to get out bestie back and you know it."

Tom sighed in frustration, before harshly arguing, "There's no way he would even listen to us after what happened!"

"You just leave that to me, I'll lay on some of my charm, no boy can resist that." Pony flipped her sweaty mane vainly.

Tom said nothing, instead just crossing his arms over his chest, an iron gaze in his eyes showing no sign of agreeing, prompting Pony to emphasis, "Ya know she listens to him. She chose him over us, remember. We get him on our side, we get Star too."

Tom's stony gaze softened, before he finally muttered, "Fine, you win."

…

"See you, Higgs," Marco called waving goodbye to the young knight for the day after a long and intense training session.

"Later loser," Higgs shouted back, a playful smirk on her face. "Try not to trip on any ladybugs on the way back."

Marco chuckled a little, knowing she was just messing with him. He was used to this by now, finally beginning to understand how Beard Deer and Janna operated. "I'll try!" he yelled, before the girl disappeared back into the training room with the rest of her fellow knights. Though it wasn't as fancy as the one in Valhalla, the two hadn't dared to try returning there, not with General Skullnick lurking about.

The boy made his way back to the castle, following the dirt path with a smile on his face and a skip in his step. He was in a great mood today, his training had gone well, only getting knocked down a couple of times instead of the near dozen he usually did and his body only slightly sore, instead of the all-over ache from before. Higgs had even complimented the boy on how quickly he was learning, which had caused the boy to grin like wild and try and give her a thankful hug which she stopped, her cheeks for some reason flushed red as she once again reminded him no hugs.

Marco hummed a little tune that ran through his head as he continued down the path without a care in the world, lost deep in tranquil thoughts. But the peace was short-lived as, without warning, a spire of fire burst up from the ground directly in front of him. The boy naturally screamed and jumped back to avoid being burned alive, staring at the flames in shock and awe, wondering what could have caused such a thing to happen so suddenly. He cocked his head to the side, feeling the intense heat on his skin, but not moving back anymore since he was a safe enough distance away from it.

As Marco continued his contemplation, a purple hand suddenly shot out from the flames grabbing the boy by the front of his hood and the teen squeaked in surprise. He was pulled forward into the flames and the hooded teen raised up his arms to try and shield himself from the white hot pain that was probably about to follow. But just as he was about to be engulfed in fire they parted just enough to allow the boy through without ending up with third-degree burns.

Realizing his flesh wasn't being melted off, or feeling any form of pain whatsoever in fact, Marco blinked his eyes open. He reeled back in shock by the sight he saw, now in a completely new location and face-to-face with the frowning face of Tom Lucitor, all three eyes glowing red. "Tom?" Marco managed to squeak out.

"We need to talk," was all the hot-headed boy replied.

…

The atmosphere in the cafe was light and pleasant, as all the patrons enjoyed their lunches, chatting happily with their friends, while the waitresses and waiters flowed energetically between each of the tables, serving their guests with a smile. But at one table near the center of the restaurant, this welcoming atmosphere was all but lost on the three, who merely sat there in an awkward silence. Marco looked between his two lunchmates in confusion, he still had no idea what was going on and felt at a complete loss of how to respond to this unexpected situation. But as uncomfortable and lost as he felt, one thing was for sure, this feeling was shared by his forced company. Tom sat with his arms folded across his chest, staring off into space, his face set in a tense and unpleasant frown, while Pony floated above her seat, ignoring the boy in favor of perusing the menu with a disgusted look on her face as nothing seemed to be catching her eye.

Marco fiddled with the straw on his corn shake, trying to ignore the tense atmosphere as he debated on what he should do. To say this was a surprise was an understatement. The two had shown little interest in getting to know him before and he figured if there was anyone expected to be at this table, it was Star, not him. Not that his girlfriend would ever agree to do that anymore. She had made her feelings toward the two pretty clear and Marco couldn't help but feel bad for them. Sure they had led them both to a super dangerous cave with a blood-thirsty yarn beast that nearly got them both killed, but they had also saved them from the same creature. Besides, they had been Star's friends for years, it seemed unfair that she would turn her back on them just because of one mistake. And so despite the conclusion his girlfriend had come to about them, that didn't mean he had to treat them the same, he should at least give them the benefit of the doubt and hear them out.

"So, uh, what exactly is it that you... wanted to talk to me about?" Marco asked, before quickly taking a giant gulp of his corn shake, trying to hide how uncomfortable he was really feeling in this situation.

The two finally looked his way, acknowledging his existence for the first time since they sat down. "First of all, Marco we wanted to say that we are really glad you're willing to hear us out," Tom began. "Especially after we sorta got off on the wrong foot when we first met."

"Well I didn't really have much choice since you kinda kidnapped me," Marco pointed out, honestly.

"Oh right, sorry," Tom said sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I can be pretty aggressive sometimes. I don't always know how to deal with people."

"Told ya we shoulda just sent him the note I wrote," Pony said, with a superior look.

"Are you kidding, what kind of friendly invitation has the words 'or else' on them," Tom argued.

"Uhh, the kind that makes sure he gets here, obviously," Pony retorted, with a roll of her eyes.

"We need him to like us, remember, not scare him away!" Tom hissed, his anger steadily rising.

"Guys, it's fine," Marco interrupted, trying to both reassure them and lighten up the mood some. "I don't mind meeting with you guys, it was unexpected but y'know I didn't really care." The two just stared blankly at him, until he added, "And anyways, I'm glad you decided to do this, I was hoping we could all become friends, actually."

Tom's mouth dropped open, while Pony got a smirky look on her face, boosting, "Wow that was easier than I thought. I amaze even myself sometimes!"

Tom, on the other hand, looking started by this declaration, asking "Are you serious?! After the way we treated you, your still willing to forgive us just like that!"

Marco shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"B-B-But, we nearly got you killed!" Tom's mind was spinning as it tried and failed to grasp the boy's instant turn-around. He was sure that there would have to be some serious pleading and manipulating on both of their part to even get the boy to listen to what they had to say, instead it seemed the boy had come with them with nothing but good intents at heart. How could he be so quick to forgive? Was this what Star had seen in him over them?

Marco just waved a nonchalant hand in the air. "Aw, that's no big deal. My own family lied to me for years about killing Mewmans and then tried to kidnap me and bring me to an evil Monster who wanted to use me against them after he killed my parents and I forgave them." The boy had a remarkably calm smile on his face as he took another long sip of his corn shake, Tom and Pony just staring at him wide-eyed for a moment.

"You know Marco, you are way more complicated dude that I than I thought you were when we first met," Tom finally said.

"I get that a lot," Marco said with a shrug.

"Soooo anyways," Tom said, trying to awkwardly bring the conversation back to the matter at hand. "What we were hoping was that-"

"Hey Marco!" a cheerful Kelly called walking over to their table, Tom growling unhappily under his breath at the interruption.

"Hey Kells!" Marco greeted back, equally as chipper. The hairy girl, though she was smiling, also seemed to be paranoid about something her eyes darting around her place of business anxiously. Marco noticed this but didn't comment. Kelly's frantic gaze froze on the two other occupants at the table, a suspicious eyebrow raising. Marco followed her gaze and quickly began introductions, "Oh that's right, I guess you've never met before. Umm, Kelly this is Tom and Pony Head-"

"Yeah, hi," the girl said quickly, causing the two teens' eyes to narrow at that. But Kelly ignored them, leaning in close to the boy's ear and whispering, "Um, hey Marco just giving you a head's up, my boss is wandering around the restaurant right now, so be weary."

"Why, what's wrong with him?" Marco asked.

"He's a bit... strange," was all Kelly said, a grimace on her face that unnerved Marco more than it probably should. "Just trust me, you'll want to stay away from him if you can."

"Ahem," Tom loudly said, making no effort to hide the contempt in his voice, as he tried to gain their attention back.

Pony was less subtle, obnoxiously stating, "Uh, hello we are kinda in the middle of a conversation here! So either take our order or leave!"

Kelly and Marco turned their way again, but before either of them could apologize or retort, another voice yelled out from across the restaurant, "Kelly!"

"Oh come on, really?" Pony exclaimed in annoyance at yet another interruption, rolling her eyes dramatically.

The hairy girl, on the other, cringed as her name was called, face-palming as she groaned, "Oh no, too late. He found us."

Everyone at the table turned to see a small green goblin racing over, wearing a red and white stripped apron and hat, looking super high-strung as he raced over. "That's your boss," Tom said skeptically.

"Unfortunately," Kelly replied, with a roll of her eyes, not turning around.

"Oh wow, you got the raw end of the deal there, girl," Pony added.

"Tell me about it," Kelly said bitterly.

Right on cue, he caught up to them, putting an small arm around Kelly's waist. "There's my favorite waitress!" he said with an annoyingly energetic voice that sounded way too forced to be real. "Are you promoting our new special like I asked?"

Kelly sighed, resisting the urge to once again bury her face in her hands, though she was tempted to just hide in the safety of her hair. "Yes, Roy," she responded in annoyance. "I told everyone about the corn on the stick, but I really doubt anyone is going to pay like eight dollars extra just to get a corn on the cob with a stick shoved through it."

Behind them, at a nearby table, another of the waitresses shouted out, "Hey Roy I got four orders for the corn on the stick!"

Roy got a knowing grin on his face, elbowing his employee as he said, "See I told you it was genius idea. These Mewmans go nuts for anything having to do with corn!"

Kelly bit her tongue to keep from commenting, frowning openly. Great the last thing she needed was for Roy to get a bigger head the one he already had. The goblin turned, finally taking in the three guests sitting at his table and his smile widened as his eyes landed on the hooded teen. "Ah and there is my number one customer!"

"Um, hi," Marco said shyly offering his hand to shake, which the goblin took eagerly, shaking his hand so vigorously Marco's whole body was being jerked around and the boy was suddenly afraid his arm was going to fall off. Meanwhile, Tom and Pony just watched silently, neither sure what the heck was going on, but neither looking happy by it.

"It is such a pleasure to meet you at last!" Roy said pleasantly. He yelled to his waitress over his shoulder, still shaking the boy's hand. "Kelly, why didn't you tell me Marco was here?!"

"You didn't ask me," Kelly responded immediately.

Roy just turned back to the hooded teen, who looked like he was starting to have whiplash, and he mercifully released his now aching hand. "I have been wanting to meet you for so long, Marco. After all, I've heard nothing but good things about you." The goblin winked at him following his compliment and Marco felt a familiar blush on his cheeks.

"Really?" Marco replied, not knowing what else to say, while he tenderly massaged the crick in his neck.

"Why yes, you're one of our most regular customers, isn't he Kelly?" The goblin turned to him for conformation.

"Yep," Kelly agreed, though her face and tone was void of any emotion.

"In fact just to show our appreciation, you and your friends can have today's meal for free!" Roy proclaimed with an overly dramatic flourish.

"Oh that's not necessary-" Marco started to say, until Pony interrupted, suddenly intrigued by the conversation.

"Hey boy, shut it! You never say no to free food!" the horse head shouted, before turning to Kelly and saying with a smirk, "You can go ahead and put me down for two of everything, oh actually now that I'm saying that I remembered I'm trying to watch my figure so, better make that just one of everything and then the rest to go."

"I'll have the same," Tom added, handing his and Pony's menu to the girl.

"Greeaattt, I'm sure the kitchen will love to hear that," Kelly mused, before walking off to go tell her fellow coworkers about the gigantic order. But she stopped as she heard Roy say to Marco, "So I have a bit of a business proposition for you."

"Oh no," Kelly muttered, whipping her head back around, the quick action startling Tad awake.

"What kind of proposition?" Marco asked innocently.

"Oh no, oh no," Kelly continued, Tad asking, "What's going on babe?" He finally spotted his hooded friend though and said worriedly, "Oh no, he's at it again."

"Well since you and the princess are an item..." Roy nudged Marco's arm, who looked confused, not understanding what he meant by that. But he didn't get the chance to ask as the goblin continued, "I was hoping that maybe you could ask your girlfriend to I don't know, promote the restaurant, y'know get our name out there."

"What?" Marco asked in confusion, cocking his head to the side.

"He wants Star to do a commercial," Kelly explained frustratingly. "And I already told you Roy to leave Marco alone," she continued in a scolding tone. "Stop trying to manipulate him into getting your way."

"What, I'm not manipulating him," Roy replied innocently, looking hurt. "I'm just thinking of all the business it could bring in."

"Hey uhh, if your offering free food, I'd be happy to be in your commercials," Pony spoke up and the two turned to her in shock.

"You?" Roy asked.

"Uhh, yeah, this face was made for television," Pony proclaimed, raising her chin high, flauntingly. "Besides your looking at the future queen of the Cloud Kingdom, so you should be showing me some respect."

Roy gasped, before flopping down on the ground, bowing over and over again, as he praised the ruler, Pony soaking all of this in vainly, while Marco, Tom, and Kelly, as well as the rest of the restaurant watched in shock and disgust. "Oh Your Majesty, please forgive me for my ignorance, Your Grace! I am but a humble servant at your feet- uh hooves- umm, sparkly glitter! If there is anything I can do to make you feel more comfortable please don't hesitate to ask!"

"Well you could have your people get a move on with my food, I'm starving over here," Pony commanded.

"Of course," Roy said humbly, before bossily shouting to his employees, "Kelly! Tad! You heard the lady! Drop everything, we need to get that food out, stat!"

"You got it boss!" Kelly said, before the goblin ran off in the direction of the kitchen, going to oversee the massive project. Once he was out of sight, Kelly said, "Well that takes care of that, I guess. I better go help, before Roy has a heart attack or something." She took one step, but stopped, turning to warn her hooded friend, "Oh and if Roy tries and offer you a Goblin Dog, just say no, okay?"

Marco nodded numbly, watching the girl walk off. With that out of the way, he turned back to the other two, Tom looking out of it and unsure what just happened and Pony looking full of herself, smirking boastfully. The boy quickly cleared his throat and asked, "Um, so what were you going to say, Tom?"

"What?" Tom said, finally returning focus on Marco, his three eyes dazed and distracted.

"You were going to ask me something before we got interrupted," Marco reminded him.

"Oh right," Tom said in remembrance. "Well actually we wanted to ask you about Star?"

"Star?" Marco repeated in confusion, an eyebrow raising quizzically.

"Yeah. See, you know how Star pretty much..." the boy paused trying to find the right way to word this.

"Hates your guts," Marco supplied.

The short-tempered boy's eyes narrowed at that, but he remarkably didn't explode with anger and kept his calm for the most part, as he said through clenched teeth, "Not how I was going to put it."

"Sorry," Marco apologized, seeing he had upset him.

There was a beat of silence, as the hot-headed teen fought back the urge to set the boy on fire, before he continued in a clearly annoyed tone, "Well, we've done everything we can think of to try and get her to forgive us and so far, nothing's worked."

Marco's eyes lowered to his empty plate, he already knew this, Star talked about it a lot and he wasn't sure how much of this he should voice to the two, not wanting to hurt or upset them anymore than they already were. "Yeah, she's... mentioned it a couple of times," he finally said.

"So we were thinking that maybe you could-" Tom started, but Pony quickly butt in, getting too impatient to beat around the bush any longer.

"Can you tell her to forgive us already?" the horse head asked, Marco's eyes widening in surprise.

"Huh?" the boy gasped out.

"Pony!" Tom shouted, shooting his friend a glare, his cheek marks burning out of control for a moment.

"What? That's what you were going to ask him?"

"Yeah but I wasn't just going to blurt it out like that," Tom argued. Pony showed no sign of remorse and the redhead just sighed, before turning back to Marco. "That does pretty much sum it up. We thought you could talk to Star and see if you could get her to give us another chance."

Marco looked down at his corn shake for a moment, thinking it over. Finally, he hesitantly replied, "I don't know."

"Oh come on, she listens to you," Pony persisted. "Just tell her we're really sorry and didn't mean anything and all that and boom, we get our bestie back!"

Marco shook his head. "It's not that simple. Sure I know Star trusts me and everything, but she's already made up her mind. I'm just not sure how much me talking to her would help. Plus, it's not like I can just force her to do something, that'd be wrong."

"Well, it's either that or we lose Star as our friend, forever," Tom argued, driving his point home hard, Marco shrinking in his seat guiltily, the weight of the decision weighing heavily down on him. He didn't want to see Star's friendship with the two end so poorly, but at the same time...

"Maybe there's another way," Marco suggested.

"Oh yeah, like what exactly?" Pony asked sarcastically.

"Well, right now Star has a really bad image of you, but if we can show her that you've changed then maybe she'll finally forgive you both," Marco said. He tapped a finger to his chin as he tried to think of a way to get the two back into her good graces.

"And how do we do that?" Tom asked, looking skeptical. "After what we did it it would take something pretty big to change her mind?"

"Yeah, like a zombie invasion or something..." Pony added.

Marco grinned, his suns switching to glowing lightbulbs as he shouted, "Pony, your a genius!"

Pony scoffed, flipping her mane again, as she said arrogantly, "Well duh!"

Tom, on the other hand, didn't look so sure. "Uhh, no offense Marco, but I'm not comfortable with bringing people back from dead," Tom said doubtingly. "After what happened last time, I swore I wouldn't do that ever again! They are extremely difficult to control!"

Marco shook his head. "No, no, not zombies, a Monster attack!" Marco corrected. The two still looked skeptical, so Marco explained, "All we have to do is pretend that a Monster is attacking the village and then when Star shows up, you guys act like your beating it up and she'll see that your on our side! It'll give her a new image of you two!"

"That's... not a bad plan, actually," Tom admitted.

"Uh, okay, but like where are we gonna get a Monster to fake fight us," Pony pointed out.

"Hey I was raised by Monsters, remember? Just leave that to me," Marco assured, pointing proudly to himself, while his eyes shimmered with glee and excitement. "I have just the Monster for the job."

…

Lobster Claws was sleeping peacefully in the tree outside the knight's training area, snoring loudly and obnoxiously as he used a set of leaves as a make-shift pillow, drool running down his mouth as he snoozed. He had been watching the boy and Higgs as they practiced but after a while had grown bored of the same monotonous action and drifted off to sleep, despite his promise to Buff Frog to watch the boy closely.

Marco smiled up at the Monster, while behind him Tom and Pony looked up at the perched crustacean with looks of doubt and skepticism. Tom voiced this concern out loud, asking the hooded teen, "Are you sure this guy is the right one for the job?"

Marco turned to him with an astonished look, unable to believe Tom and Pony were unsure about the Monster's capability. He was pretty biased when it came to the Monsters though, he had grown up thinking they were all strong and perfect, capable of doing anything, especially Buff Frog, who he had always seen as someone he not only loved but as the role model he hoped to someday be, despite doubting if he ever could live up to his awesome father. "Of course he is," Marco stated, as if the answer was obvious.

Tom and Pony Head continued to cast weary glances at the Monster, Pony saying, "He doesn't exactly look like the most threatening type."

"Trust me, he can be pretty menacing when he wants to be," Marco reassured them, before turning back to the still oblivious Monster. "Hey Lobster Claws!" Marco shouted, startling the crustacean awake.

Lobster Claws screamed and jumped, causing him to slip off the tree, bumping branch after branch on the way down, each time with a loud, "Oof!" Marco cringed at each hit, hating to see his family member getting injured in such a way, even Tom and Pony flinching over each rattling bang. Finally, Lobster Claws reached the ground, face-planting into the dirt and grass with the loudest crash of them all, as scattered leaves rained down on his unmoving body.

Marco looked horrified and worried for the Monster, while Tom merely muttered sarcastically, "Oh yeah, sooo intimidating." The hooded teen ignored this as he raced over to Lobster Claws, pushing on his shoulder trying to rouse him from unconsciousness, the fear that one of his family member's was dead overpowering him for a moment. "Lobster Claws? Lobster Claws, wake up! Are you alright?"

Finally, the Monster slowly awakened, his head swaying from dizziness as he groaned in pain. "Mommy is that you? I don't want to eat anymore corn for breakfast," he drunkenly moaned out.

"No, Lobster Claws, it's me, Marco," the boy corrected, as the Monster finally took in the boy, his eyes squinting as he tried to fight through the haziness in his mind and vision. "Marco, what are you doing in my room?" Lobster Claws managed out.

"I'm not Lobster Claws," Marco explained worriedly, afraid the poor Monster had suffered brain damage because of him. "We're at Butterfly Castle... you just fell out of a tree."

"I did?" Lobster Claws asked, rubbing at his his aching head with his oversized claw. Suddenly, his eyes widened as his memory came rushing back to him at once and he remembered the order given to him by Buff Frog. He screamed jumping up from the spot, which startled Marco quite a bit, as the lobster Monster looked for a place to hide. "I- uh- um, I'm not really here," he said in panic, needlessly moving behind the tree he had just fallen out of, his form still mostly visible to the questioning gazes of the three teens. "Pay no attention to me."

"Lobster Claws I know you've been watching me the last few days," Marco said and the lobster quickly leaned away from the tree, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Really, you knew?"

"Of course I knew, I figured it was only a matter of time before dad sent one of you over to keep an eye on me," Marco nonchalantly said. "Especially after what happened with Ludo and everything."

"Oh." the crustacean finally moved away from his feeble hiding spot.

"But that isn't why I'm here. I was actually hoping you could help me with something," Marco said.

"Sure thing, Marco," Lobster Claws said, nodding eagerly, excited and ready to help his young charge with whatever he needed.

"Okay then, I need you to pretend to attack Butterfly Village," Marco quickly explained.

Lobster Claws continued nodding for a second, before the words registered and his eyes widened, stumbling back in shock. "What?!"

"Yeah, see Star doesn't really trust Tom and Pony over there." Marco pointed out his two friends behind him, that Lobster Claws just noticed were even there. "Soo, I figured the best way to show her how good they can be is have her see them fighting off a bad Monster who is attacking the village."

"Ummm, I don't think I'm allowed to do that," the lobster weakly argued, recalling the long, long, _long_ rant he had been forced to sit through, along with the other Monsters, as General Skullnick laid out the ground rules for their future relations with their new allies and though he had dozed through part of it he was sure that attacking the capital of the kingdom was kinda a big no-no. Buff Frog had even ended the meeting by having all of them swear to never lay harm upon another Mewman ever again.

"No, no, don't worry about it, it's just pretend, no one's really going to get hurt and everyone but Star will know that it's fake," Marco reassured him.

Now Lobster Claws looked even more worried, "Wait, why won't Star know?!" He had been on the wrong end of her wand before and he rather not repeat it.

"Because, Lobster Claws, if she knows then our plan won't work," Marco explained exasperatedly. He put on one of his sugary-sweet, signature smiles as he asked, "So will you help us?"

Lobster Claws held out under the begging gaze of the child for all of about two seconds before agreeing, "Alright, Marco. Whatever you need you got it." He gave the boy a wide, goofy grin, which the boy returned.

"Okay then, all you have to do, Lobster Claws, is act all evil and bad and then pretend to go down when Tom and Pony Head attack you, got it?"

The crustacean nodded, until a thought occurred to him. "Um, but wait, won't Star recognize me?" Lobster Claws asked.

"Oh I hadn't thought of that," Marco admitted, his face morphing into a thoughtful frown.

"Big deal," Pony suddenly butted in. "All you have to do is disguise him so he looks different."

"Yeah, like give him a cool scar or something," Tom contributed, looking suddenly excited. He held up a flaming fist, as he offered, "If you want I could help with that-"

"Uhhh no, no I don't think that's a good idea," Marco quickly interjected, suddenly fearful for his family member. "I think we should just leave the disguise to Lobster Claw."

Tom shrugged, the fire in his hand going out, only a small billow of smoke drifting off of it. "Your lose."

"You can handle the disguise right Lobster Claws?" Marco asked the Monster, who hesitated for a half a second too long before waving a reassuring claw in the air.

"Pssh, of course I do. I got it covered, Marco." Though his voice obviously sounded fake and forced, Marco didn't catch this at all and instead immediately nodded and turned back to his two friends.

"Okay then, Tom and Pony, 'Operation Make Star Like You Again' is a go!" he shouted, thrusting a dramatic finger in the air.

"We are not calling it that!" Pony interjected, looking almost offended by how generic the name sounded. "I refuse to be part of anything that sounds that lame."

"Yeah how about something cool like 'Operation: Fake Flames'?" Tom pitched, a proud smile at the cleverness of the name.

"Uhh, no that's lame too," Pony shot down, rolling her eyes. This comment seemed to set off the flaming teen once again, as Tom's head whipped around to face her, his eyes glowing red as he growled.

Marco just continued to make suggestions, "Operation: Making Amends? Umm, Friends Reunite? How about Ponytomco-"

"No!" both Pony and Tom shot down at once, neither even letting him finish his sentence.

"How about 'Operation: Lobster Claws Saves the Day'!" the crustacean suggested, his eyes twinkling in hope.

The three teens stared at him for a moment, before Tom snapped, "Your not a part of this conversation!"

Lobster Claws hung his head, as Tom and Marco continued to pitch pointless names out only to be rejected by Pony Head, as he mumbled longingly, "One day, Lobster Claws. One day it will it happen."

"Look the name won't even matter if it doesn't work," Pony pointed out, stopping any more suggestions. "Besides I think 'Operation: #1 Bestie to Star, Pony Head' is the best name out there?" The horse head flipped her mane at that, looking smug and Tom rolled his eyes, while Marco just looked unsure.

"I think I like Fake Flames better," Marco honestly admitted and Tom gave Pony a condescending grin, since Pony was now outnumbered.

"Oh whatever this is coming from the same kid who thought Ponytomco was a good name," Pony bitterly snapped, pouting openly over losing.

…

Kelly walked out of the restaurant with a deep sigh, glad to finally be getting a break after a long and stressful afternoon, only to spot Marco and the two friends he was with earlier clearing tables off to the side, Roy overseeing the project and she instantly went on alert. "Tad, wake up!" Kelly shouted up to her boyfriend.

Tad yawned, blinking his red, blurry eyes as he asked, "What's up babe?"

"Roy's up to his old tricks again," Kelly explained, before going to the goblin, who held a sign up, that said, 'Eat at Fang Tangs!' on it.

"Come one, come all, to Fang Tangs owned by yours truly! We have a great selection of food from a multitude of dimensions, including my famous and signature Goblin Dogs!"

"Roy, no Goblin Dogs!" Kelly shouted, startling the goblin who turned to her wide eyes. But it quickly morphed into a toothy smile as he said, "Ah, Kelly, just in time! I need you and Tad to help me promote the restaurant! Here Tad take this sign!"

He handed the confused clump of hair the sign, who took it regretfully. "Now hold it up high, so that everyone can see!" Roy shouted, spreading his arms wide.

"Roy," Kelly snapped, seeing he was getting lost in one of his delusions again. The goblin turned to face her in confusion. The girl sighed, "First off we are on break." She took the sign from Tad before handing it back to her goblin boss. "Secondly, what exactly is going on out here?" She gestured over to the hooded teen and his friends, still hard at work clearing a space. "Did you rope Marco into one of your little schemes?" she pointed an accusing finger at the goblin, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Nope, just the opposite actually," Roy explained. "Marco asked if he and his friends could have the space for some kind of play thing they're wanting to put on and I thought free promotion!" He waved the sign around again, shouting out, "Fang Tangs! Best restaurant this side of Mewni!" He then got the brilliant idea to attempt an intricate dance with the sign, but what came out caused every passerby to either roll their eyes or quickly cover their mouths to keep from busting out into laughter over how stupid the dance was. But the goblin would not be deterred, dancing on, ignorant to the chuckles of the on-goers.

Kelly face-palmed over how ridiculous her boss looked, before asking, "What kind of play are they putting on?"

"Don't know, you should ask them," Roy said, continuing his bizarre and embarrassing dance.

The green-haired girl didn't have to be told twice, leaving the goblin to his own designs and instead going over to greet the hooded teen. Marco spotted her approaching and waved, saying, "Hey Kelly! Hey Tad!"

"Sup, dude," Tad replied back, Kelly saying, "Hey Marco." She paused for a moment, as the boy struggled to fold up one of the chairs, his fingers fumbling with the little clasp that kept it open. Kelly reached over and showed him how to close it and the boy gave her a grateful smile. She followed him as he went to lay it against the restaurant's side, finally asking, "Sooo what are you doing anyway?"

"I'm trying to help Tom and Pony Head become friends with Star again," Marco explained. "See they got into a disagreement a while ago and Star hasn't really talked to them since, so I figured I'd take the initiative and show Star just how cool and trustworthy they actually are."

Kelly looked over at the two, Tom throwing the chairs into a pile with no care into preserving them, many snapping and breaking at the intense impact. His natural resting face seemed to be a frown, as he continued on with the monotonous task in near annoyance. Pony wasn't helping at all, instead she was taking photos of herself with her mirror phone, taking different poses, ignoring the hard work altogether, much to Tom's annoyance, who growled over at her every so often, his cheeks flaring up, burning one of the flower décor to ash every time.

"Yeah, they seem like real... cool guys," Kelly said skeptically. Marco followed her critical gaze and quickly explained, "I know their a little rough around the edges but once you get to know them they're not so bad."

"Weren't they the ones who convinced Star to go to that creepy cave the day we first met?" Kelly asked, suddenly remembering him giving her the whole story a while back.

"Yeah, but they didn't know any better," Marco said.

Kelly didn't look so sure, but didn't argue, not wanting to upset the boy. "So what's the plan then, brah?" Tad asked, finally speaking up, after listening in to the conversation for a while.

"When Star gets here, I'm gonna have one of the Monsters pretend to start attacking, and then Tom and Pony are gonna pretend to beat him up," Marco explained.

Kelly and Tad shared a look. "Are you sure that's gonna work?" the green-haired girl asked.

"Yep, I'm positive, all Star needs to do is see them in a new light," Marco said, as he finished with the last of the chairs.

"Well... good luck then," Kelly said, though she still had her doubts about the effectiveness of this plan.

"Thanks," Marco said with a grin, he got a call from Tom and quickly excused himself. "Be right back."

Kelly smiled, but once Marco had turned and raced away she looked up at Tad with concern. "What do you think, babe? Think his plan will work?"

"Not a chance," Tad said and Kelly nodded in agreement.

"Yep, same here."

Once Marco caught up to Tom and Pony he asked them, "What's up?"

"Did you call Star yet?" Tom asked and Marco quickly pulled out his phone.

"Oh yeah, right. Guess I better do that," he mumbled, quickly dialing in her number. He put it up to his ear, waiting to hear the voice of his girlfriend through the speaker. He tried to keep his nerve through the few seconds of waiting, taking deep breaths. He really hoped this worked.

"Hello," came Star's voice through the speaker.

"Hey," Marco said, his voice squeaking against his will and he felt his cheeks blush red. Maybe this was a bad idea he was a notoriously bad liar and having Tom and Pony watching him intensely was not helping him any. He coughed as a cover and then tried again, saying, "Hey Star, um, what are you doing?"

"Oh just finishing up the last of the paperwork," Star said nonchalantly, if she suspected anything from the boy she didn't let on. "Jackie and Aunt Lily were loads of help."

"Oh good, good," Marco said awkwardly, having to use every ounce of his strength not to just blurt out his request. "So, um, maybe whenever you're free, I thought you might be able to meet me at Fang Tangs, y'know that restaurant we went to on our last date."

"Yeah, sure thing, That sounds great. Any particular reason, though?" she asked, though there was no suspicion in her tone. Still this caused Marco to freeze and panic, his mind going blank and empty, as his wide eyes jumped to Tom and Pony for help.

The two started mouthing things to him and gestured that he needed to say something. "Um, no, no reason," he stuttered nervously, his brain struggling to come up with an explanation and his two clashing ideas instead came out as one dissembled mess, as he added, "I just... wanted to see your kiss-" Realizing his mistake he quickly corrected himself, shouting, "I mean kiss your face- uhh, I mean see your face, I wanted to see your face," Marco corrected himself, feeling hot from the blush that now covered his entire face. Tom face-palmed at the boy's failure, while Pony was just rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"Marco, what's going on?" Star asked suspiciously, clearing tipped off by the boy's nervous fumbling.

"Whaaaattt?!" Marco replied as nonchalantly as he could, but his high-pitched voice cracked at the attempt and he had to clear his throat again before he could continue. "Nothing is going on- I, uh, just wanted to have lunch with my girlfriend, that's all."

"All right well, I'll be there shortly, okay," Star said, though she didn't sound convinced in the slightest, her questioning tone still very much there.

"Oh okay, see you then Star, bye!" he quickly yelled out, wanting to end this conversation as quickly as he could, hanging up the phone a second later, before letting out a long, relieved sigh.

Tom and Pony just stared at him for a long moment before Pony said, "Well that could have gone better."

…

Star hung up the phone, giving it a long quizzical gaze, Jackie who sat next to her on her couch asking, "What was that about?"

"I don't know," Star said, still staring at the mobile device. "But I think Marco is up to something."

"Marco, really?" Jackie said surprised.

"Yeah, it's probably just a surprise or something," Star said, finally waving off the boy's odd behavior with a shrug. She rose up from the couch, smoothing out her dress and grabbing her headband off her dresser. "But anyways I better get to town and see what's up."

"Cool, see you later, Star," Jackie said, rising up from the couch as well and stretching. As the blond was exiting the room, the skater called after her, "Have fun!"

"I will!" Star replied, shooting her a grin over her shoulder.

…

Star made her way into town, dodging past carriages and on-goers in a hurry to finish their tasks for the day. The streets were fairly empty, as the day started to wind down some, but it was still busy enough that Star had to be careful to avoid getting run over by an invisible goat's noisy, clopping feet. Finally she made it to the Fang Tangs, the outside sitting area cleared out now for some reason, all the chairs and tables stacked either against the wall or in a massive pile.

The girl frowned, wondering aloud, "What happened here?" She spotted Kelly a second later, standing near the pile of furniture, a distasteful frown on her face as she examined the damage. Star walked over to her quickly, greeting cheerfully, "Hey!"

The green-haired girl turned to her, a smile now brightening her face, as she replied back, "Hi, Star!"

"Hi... Kelly was it?" she asked sheepishly, not wanting to offend one of Marco's friends.

But the girl merely nodded and said, "Yeah that's right. And you also remember my boyfriend, Tad." She pointed up at her blinking hair. "Sup," Tad replied, with a slight nod.

"Yep, kinda hard to forget," the blond royal said. She looked back over the empty area and asked, "So what's going on here, anyway? Are you guys redecorating or what?"

"Um, well, I'm not at liberty to say," Kelly responded with an annoyed frown.

"Princess Star Butterfly!" an overly enthusiastic voice shouted and Star turned to see a small goblin run up to her and bowing low to the ground. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty!"

"Oh please, you don't have to be so formal," Star said, waving a hand in the air. "Just Star is fine."

The goblin squealed in delight, turning to his waitress and asking, "Did you hear that Kelly? The princess is allowing me to call her by her first name!"

"Yep, incredible," Kelly dead-panned, her and Tad rolling their eyes as one.

"In honor of your visit to this fine establishment, allow me to make you a very, extra special order, courtesy of Roy's Fang Tangs!"

"Oh no that's not necessary," Star tried to politely decline, but the goblin was already racing to the doors.

"Oh but I insist, Princ- I mean, _Star,_ " he shouted, overemphasizing her name. He reached the doors, throwing them open and shouting to his staff to get working, nearly knocking over Marco in his haste. The hooded teen, Tom, and Pony were all huddled around the door, watching Star closely.

"Okay, this is it guys," Marco said, turning to his friends. "Remember just stick to the plan."

"Right, uh, what was the plan again?" Pony asked, lazily. Marco gave her a long look, unable to believe she had already forgotten. "I'm kidding, turd. Geez, don't you know how to take a joke?" Pony quickly said and Marco shook his head, trying his best to ignore the floating horse head's odd sense of humor.

"Just be ready when Lobster Claws comes in, okay?" was all the boy replied, before opening the door and going over to greet his girlfriend. "Hey Star!" Marco called and his bestie turned to him with a wide smile, her blue eyes shimmering like her namesake. The boy felt his heart thump once out of rhythm, but he ignored it, used to that happening around Star by now, as he gave here a long kiss hello.

"Hey you, what's up?" Star asked, her voice full of love and affection, as she held him in a warm embrace.

"Nothing's up," Marco replied, far too fast. "Just a perfectly normally date with my girlfriend." He chuckled nervously, trying desperately to deceive her, but it of course didn't work as Star raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Come on, Marco, you know I can tell when you're lying," she said playfully. "Might as well fess up. What's the big secret your keeping?"

Marco pulled out of the hug, holding his hands up in an innocent act, "What, Star, there's no secret. I just... want our special night to go well that's all." He then raised his voice to a near yell, angling his head so he was shouting somewhat over his shoulder. "I just hope something doesn't come along and ruin it!" he shouted, overemphasizing every word needlessly.

There was a pause as both Kelly and Star stared at the boy quizzically and Marco laughed nervously, trying again, even louder this time, "I said, I hope someone doesn't _come along and ruin it_!"

"Oh right," a muffled voice called from the shadows and then a second later Lobster Claws jumped out, looking exactly the same except now wearing a mustache. He laughed manically, before shouting in the most sinister voice he could, "Hahaha, beware pitiful Mewmans, I am here to destroy you all!"

Marco fake gasped, pointing to the Monster in fear. "Oh no Star, an evil Monster is attacking!"

Star stared at the Monster blankly for a moment, before asking indifferently, "Lobster Claws, what are you doing?"

"What, I'm not Lobster Claws!" the Monster quickly shouted, before clearing his throat and speaking in a poor french accent, "I am his evil twin, Lobster, uhh, Paws."

Star raised an eyebrow, before turning to her boyfriend and asking him, "Marco what is this about?"

Marco's eyes widened in panic for a second before he managed to hide it, giving a far-too-wide-to-be-real smile. "What do you mean, Star? This Monster is clearly attacking us and someone needs to stop him," Marco continued, still overemphasizing every word.

Then, the door to the restaurant busted open and Tom walked out, puffing his chest out heroically and said dramatically, "Don't worry, I'll stop him!"

Pony floated in behind Tom with a very annoyed look on her face, as she said in a deadpanned voice, "And I guess I'll stop him or whatever, too."

Star seeing her two ex-friend's and finally realizing what was going on, face-palmed, muttering under her breath, "Oh no."

Marco gasped once again, clutching Star's arm and shouted excitedly, "Star look at that, Tom and Pony Head came here to save us!"

"Yeah and just in time too," Star said sarcastically. "Almost like they knew this was going to happen."

"Hey ugly!" Tom yelled to Lobster Claws, who turned to him with a fake growl. "Why don't you come and pick on someone your own size!"

"But you're shorter than me," the crustacean suddenly pointed out, breaking character for a moment.

Tom's third eye twitched and he hissed, "Would you just fight me, already?!"

Lobster Claws charged him with a loud yell and Tom did the same, using his flames to propel him forward, both heading right at each other. Just as Marco began to panic, afraid the two might actually start hitting each other, they reached the middle, Tom throwing a fake punch to the Monster, who stumbled back, holding his jaw in his claws in mock pain. Lobster Claws then shot his claw out, coming no where near the boy, but Tom still let out a loud grunt and clutched at his stomach.

Star, Kelly, and Pony watched as the two continued their obviously fake fight, all with unamused and disbelieving expressions. Marco on the other hand was getting super into the fight, pumping his fists repeatedly into the air and cheering the flaming boy on. "That's right, Tom, get him! Shoot him with a fire ball!" He turned to the hovering horse head and added, "Pony, aren't you going to help Tom?"

"Yeah, no, I'm not doing this," Pony argued, shaking her head, refusing to do something so undignified and stupid.

"Come on Pony," Marco pressed. "What about the plan-err, I mean stopping that Monster."

Pony turned back to her friend, who was pretending to shoot fireballs at the lobster, who cried out in pain as if he was being burned alive. "No, please stop, no more! Ahhh, it hurts!" The horse head turned back to Marco and said, "Yeah no, I think I'm good."

Marco opened his mouth to argue, when Lobster Claws charged at Tom again and Marco not knowing what else to do jumped to his side, saying in a cheesily melodramatic voice, "I'll help you fight him off Tom!"

"No Marco it's too dangerous!" Tom shouted in concern, sounding equally as hammy and forced as his companion, shaking the boy's shoulders.

"Yes, but you need help, you can't beat this Monster alone!" Marco cried out.

"Ha, even two of you won't be enough to stop me!" Lobster Claws laughed manically.

He attacked the two again as they pretended to dodge his punches, while occasionally throwing their own. Pony just watched with growing humiliation over the stupid display one of her closest friends was subjecting himself to, as he lost himself more and more to his roll. After a few minutes of the corny act the three were putting on, Star turned to Kelly and said, "Well, I think I'm gonna head back, tell Marco to meet me at the castle whenever he's finished with... whatever that is." She waved over at the three.

"'Kay," Kelly said, watching as the blond royal headed back the way she had come.

Marco, Tom, and Lobster Claws didn't notice this, still caught up in their act, as Marco lay on the ground, clutching his chest, Tom holding him worriedly in his arms. "No, Marco don't leave me! You can't die now!"

"Wait die, oh no Buff Frog's gonna kill me!" Lobster Claws shouted in concern, nearly shuddering at the thought of what his frog boss would do to him if he discovered that he had killed Marco.

Marco just gasped for breath, saying softly to Tom, "This is the end, Tom. Tell Star that she was the best smooch buddy I ever had!" Marco then went limp, sticking his tongue out, playing dead.

"Nooooo!" Tom shouted, holding Marco close to him.

"Hey idiots!" Pony's annoyed voice broke through the moment and all three turned to look at her. "You can drop the act, Star already left."

"What?!" Marco cried, looking over to see Star's retreating form, getting farther and farther away. "Wait, Star!" Marco called out to her, jumping to his feet and chasing after his girlfriend. He caught up to her quickly, panting as he grabbed onto her hand, causing her to turn to him. "Star, where are you going?"

"Look Marco, I don't know what they said to put you up to this, but tell them that I'm not interested," Star said, her voice harsher than usual and that surprised Marco.

But the boy quickly shook his head, explaining, "They didn't put me up to anything, I offered to help them. I thought maybe if you saw them differently you guys could be friends again."

Star stared at the hooded teen for a long moment not sure how to explain this to him. He could be so naïve and trusting sometimes and that was one of the things she loved about him. It was normally one of his best qualities, but that didn't mean it couldn't be turned around and used against him. She put a hand on his cheek, as she explained, "Marco, I know you mean well, but... those two aren't my friends anymore. They are nothing but trouble."

"C'mon Star you can't mean that?" Marco argued, staying firm. "I mean they were your friends for years, you can't really want to throw that away."

"That was a long time ago," Star said simply, her voice soft but full of deep pain she seemed to be refusing to let surface.

"Exactly. That _was_ a long time ago and they're different now, they just want a second chance, that's all," Marco said as persuasively as he possibly could.

But Star stayed rigid, saying stonily, "They don't deserve one."

Marco was taken aback by this, that sounded so unlike Star. "What do you mean? You forgave the Monsters and they did way worse stuff than Tom and Pony Head," he pointed out.

"That was different!" Star screamed, losing her temper and Marco flinched. The blond's face flooded with guilt, but she didn't apologize only crossing her arms in front of her chest and avoiding her boyfriend's gaze. Though, through that subtle clue, Marco was able to put things into perspective and finally deduce that there was more to this story than she was letting on. "What's this really about Star?" he asked.

Star didn't respond right away, keeping her eyes trained on a far-off building, until her resolve finally crumbled and she sighed before admitting shortly, "It's about me, okay!"

"You?" Marco asked confused.

"Yeah Marco, I'm the problem, all right."

"How are you the problem?"

"Because..." her eyes switched to staring at her feet, her voice bitter and lost and sad. "If I become their friends again, then I'll be just like I was before."

"But... how is that a bad thing?" Marco argued, still not getting what was upsetting her so bad.

"You didn't know me back then, Marco. I was different person before I met you." The girl rubbed at her arm, her face full of shame and regret. "I was a rebellious, irresponsible troublemaker and up until I got sent off to... that place," she shuddered before continuing, "I would have gone along with whatever crazy scheme those two cooked up, because I wanted more than anything for them to like me. And since then, I have spent years trying to make a new reputation for myself, to change into a responsible leader and a good princess, but..." She paused, clenching her eyes shut for a moment. "Then those two showed up again and suddenly I went right back to who I was before. I just followed them blindly and without question, because I thought that I needed to go back to being the old me. But then I realized that, that isn't what's right for Mewni or for me. And..." She finally met his eye as she finished by saying, "I just can't go down that road again."

"But Star," Marco started to argue, but the blond didn't let him finish.

She turned her back to him, muttering bitterly, "I'll see you back at the castle." Then she sprinted forward, without another word, leaving a shocked and troubled Marco in her wake. He pondered to himself for a moment, not sure what to do. He couldn't believe Star would just run off like that, it was so unlike her. He understood now why she was so hesitant to forgive Tom and Pony Head though, it wasn't that she didn't trust them it was that she didn't trust herself and that was a problem Marco didn't even know how to begin to fix. How could he show her that she wasn't going to change just by being near the two? How could he prove to her that Star was still Star, no matter what?

He heard shuffling footsteps behind him and quickly turned to see Tom, Pony and Lobster Claws with melancholy looks and the two teens looked so deflated that his heart ached for them. "So... I'm guessing that was a no," Tom asked needlessly, his cheek flames completely snuffed out at the moment.

Marco didn't know how to respond, looking away from them in guilt. All he could think to say was, "I'm sorry."

Tom sighed and Pony hung her head, Lobster Claws adding in a depressed voice, "Aw man and I really thought my performance was going to win her over."

"Hey you tried at least," Tom said, his voice full of pain that he was trying so hard to hide.

"Yeah, it was a good effort, but that girl just ain't interested," Pony shook her head, looking on the verge of breaking into tears. "C'mon, T, I need to drown my sorrows in ice cream and you're buying," she said floating away, slower than usual and only a few small sparkles coming out the bottom of her. Tom didn't even argue or object like he normally would, just numbly following behind, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Marco watched them go, before hanging his own head. "Sorry Marco," Lobster Claws said, reaching out a claw to put on his shoulder. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Marco shrugged, not really knowing how else to answer. Lobster Claws, at a loss of what else to do just stood there numbly, until Marco pulled away and began a slow trek back to the restaurant. The Monster watched him go, but didn't follow feeling he needed some time alone right then and it wasn't like he knew what to say anyway. Still his vision grew blurry with the tears he had yet to shed from seeing the boy so sad and miserable.

Marco, just continued forward numbly, figuring he should thank Roy for letting them use the place, even if it was a huge failure and there was still the problem of the outside area being cleared, the chairs and tables would all have to be put back before dinner rush started. Plus, he figured maybe talking to Kelly would make him feel better, hopefully his friend would have a better idea of what to do than him.

Marco reached the door, turning the knob, barely even registering the sign that now read "Sorry, We're Closed". If he had been in better spirits perhaps it would have occurred to him how strange it was that Roy would close the restaurant before dinner rush began or the fact that the atmosphere in the room had gone dead quiet from the normal loud hustle and bustle he had grown used to. But he didn't notice this as he swung the door open sadly, nor did he notice that every light in the building had now been turned off. He let out a dejected sigh as he mumbled unhappily, "Well Kelly that plan was a complete and total bust."

But as he looked up, his eyes widened in fear as he saw Kelly and Roy tied up in opposite chairs, a cloth gag over both of their mouths and Marco panicked, immediately taking a step back and opening his mouth to scream, "Lobster Cla-Mmmph!"

A hand slapped over his mouth, while another, far stronger grip, latched onto his arm. He looked over to see a familiar purple gem gleaming back at him, along with a dreaded toothy smile. But it wasn't Rasticore that Marco saw, that made his heart race against his will, it was the unwanted flashback that filled his mind, leaving him disoriented and confused, as he suddenly saw another, more sinister face, reflected over the Monster before him. Instincts took over in that moment, he no longer knew where he was, all he knew was that he was in danger and he had to get away, _now_. So, without even thinking and pumped on by pure adrenaline and fear, he used his free hand to grab the claw still held tightly over his mouth and yanked him forward with all his might, positioning his feet right where Higgs had told him, the Monster surprised by the force from the small Mewman and actually faltered enough so that Marco had a clear shot to elbow him right where his eye once was, Higgs lesson's sounding in his mind, reminded of her teaching to do 'whatever it takes to use the enemies weakness to your advantage'.

The Monster howled with pain and actually let go of the boy, who stumbled back and away from the boy as his mind finally cleared of Toffee's evil grin. Rasticore glared at him, his metal claw still covering his eye, as he hissed dangerously, "You'll pay for that, brat!"

"Rasticore?" Marco suddenly gasped out, aware of the situation once more. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

The lizard Monster smiled at the boy's fear, saying, "So it seems are paths cross again, Marco Diaz, and once again you are merely an afterthought to my true goal."

"True goal?" Marco repeated, his voice shaking with worry.

"I was hoping it would be Star Butterfly who fell into my trap, but I suppose you'll have to do." Rasticore took a menacing step forward and Marco took a shaky one back. "Do not resist, Marco Diaz, or your friends will suffer." He gestured over to Kelly and Roy still tied up and helpless, though there was fire in Kelly's eyes, while the goblin showed only fear.

Marco hung his head, knowing resisting would only get them hurt. Besides there was very little, if anything, he could do against the trained assassin anyway. The lizard grabbed his arm, none too gently, dragged him over to the nearest chair, which was right next to Kelly and threw him into it, the boy's back hitting the wood hard, making him cry out in pain. Kelly instantly turned her head to look at him, concern shining in her eyes.

Rasticore untied both Kelly's and Roy's gags, so he could question them all properly, Roy the second he was free began begging. "Please if this is about those illegal activities, I swear I'll have your money within the-"

"Silence," Rasticore hissed and Roy squeaked before obeying. He stared between the three hostages for a second, before his eyes froze on Marco, who felt an unwanted shudder run up his spine.

"Now then, Marco Diaz, where is Star Butterfly?" Rasticore asked, crossing his arms threateningly.

"I'm not telling you," Marco said defiantly. "I won't be the reason Star gets hurt."

"You will tell me or your friends here will get hurt," Rasticore demanded, leaning in closer to the boy, who gave him an unwavering, if not slightly shaky, glare, refusing to cooperate with the evil assassin. Though it faltered a little as his brain struggled to decide the right course of action, he felt torn between protecting Star and saving Roy and Kelly.

Kelly, seeing his resolve slipping, quickly shouted, "Don't listen to him, Marco! We're not afraid of this guy."

"Speak for yourself!" Roy argued in fear and Kelly turned to him with a silencing glare, saying, "Shut up, Roy!"

Marco swallowed, before shaking his head, his voice full of bravery and determination as he gave the lizard his answer, "I won't betray Star."

Rasticore's eyes narrowed to slits, seeing the firm glare on the boy's face and realized that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to get the boy to do what he wanted. He leaned back regarding the boy with a thoughtful gaze. "Hmm, it appears you are right. I can see your loyalty for her goes much deeper than I originally anticipated," the assassin said scratching at his chin with his metal claw. "But no matter. It would be too risky to leave this place, anyway. Instead, I think I'll just wait here until the princess arrives. After all, it's only a matter of time before she goes searching for you, Marco Diaz." His face broke out in a wicked smile and Marco shuddered, not in fear for himself but for Star. He was now the bait in a trap being set up to capture his beautiful blond bestie and he didn't want to imagine what this lizard and whoever he was working for had in store for Star.

"Now then, stay still and quiet or I promise you will regret it," Rasticore hissed in warning, shooting each of them a sinister glare, before walking over to a nearby table, sitting down on it and propping his legs up on the tabletop. For a few uncomfortable minutes, the three just watched as the lizard Monster went about working on his enormous chainsaw, the thing still glitchy and unpredictable since his encounter with the Impure, but still keeping a close eye on his prisoner's as he messed with his prized weapon.

Kelly turned to Marco and whispered under her breath, "I'm sorry Marco. I didn't mean to let this happen. That jerk caught me by surprise."

"It's okay, Kelly. It's not your fault," Marco reassured her, though he felt anything but assured, as he pulled his legs up to his chest, watching the lizard anxiously.

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Kelly continued, beyond curious at this point. "And what does he want with Star?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's not good," Marco stated simply. He knew he had to be careful with his wording, the lizard surly listening in on them, despite their quiet, almost silent voices. "All I know is, we need to stop him, before he hurts Star," the boy added, as his mind desperately tried to form some kind of plan of escape. For whatever reason Rasticore had left Marco untied and the boy fiddled in his mind more than once about trying to make a run for the door. He hesitated though, knowing the plan would only prove to be futile, even if he did manage to escape that would leave Kelly and Roy at the Monster's mercy and from the haunting glare Rasticore continued to give him every so often, he got the feeling that that was what the lizard wanted. As for the reason why, Marco didn't know, though the hooded teen had a couple of ideas in mind, wondering if the lizard was just waiting for an excuse to beat the him senseless, hence why he had left him untied and the door within easy, almost taunting reach. Or even worse, maybe by letting him go, Rasticore was hoping to follow the boy right back to Star!

Marco felt another chill creep up his spine at that thought and hugged his legs even closer. No he needed a smarter plan of escape and he definitely needed to keep Star out of this. If only he had some way to contact Tom, Pony, or Lobster Claw to come and help. Then suddenly, an idea struck him, as his eyes jumped to Kelly or more specifically, the top of her head, where Tad still slept, oblivious to the Monster who held them all captive. From what Marco could tell, Rasticore had no idea about Kelly's boyfriend, otherwise he most likely would have secured him like the others, so if they could just find a moment when the lizard wasn't looking or was distracted, than maybe Tad could sneak out and warn the others.

The only question was how.

Marco making sure the lizard wasn't looking, as he dug around in the mechanical parts of his machine grunting with effort, leaned close to Kelly whispering as softly into her ear as he could, hoping the noise from the weapon would drowned out their hushed words, as he told her, "I'm gonna try and distract him, wake up Tad and tell him to go find help."

"Wait, Marco don't-" Kelly started to argue, not wanting the boy to take such a huge risk, but the boy was already out of his seat and walking confidently over to the table Rasticore sat at.

"Well he's gonna die," Roy observed, Kelly just biting her lip to keep from shouting at Marco to stop.

Rasticore saw the boy approaching and slowly lowered his chainsaw down in surprise, watching the hooded teen closely as he finally reached the table.

"What do you think your doing, brat?" the lizard hiss, his voice sharp in warning.

Marco swallowed down the lump in his throat and said as bravely as he could, "I want to know who you're working for."

Rasticore stared at him blankly for about half a second, before bursting out into laughter, Marco doing his best not to let his wavering resolve show. He knew this was pointless, but he had to do something to keep the lizard busy and this seemed better than nothing. Finally, the lizard's laugh cut off, so abruptly it actually startled Marco. "Are you really that stupid?" Rasticore asked, the harshness returning full force. "Do you actually think you are in any sort of position to be making demands?" The assassin rose up from the table and Marco backed away, but kept his gaze strong, forcing himself to keep from checking and seeing if Tad was gone yet or not.

"Even if I'm not, that's not gonna keep me from trying," Marco argued. "I'm not just gonna stand here and let someone try and hurt Star."

"Oh so noble," Rasticore said, his voice mocking and sarcastic. "Trying to protect your little girlfriend, well aren't you just a knight in shining armor. Too bad your too weak to do her any good."

Marco ignored the blush that formed at the last insult, trying to channel his inner Janna, as he shot back, "Well at least I'm not hiding in the shadows and setting traps because I'm too afraid to face Star in a fair fight."

Rasticore's eyes narrowed dangerously at that, a low growl settling in the back of his throat as he spat, "I'm not afraid of anyone, least of all some princess!"

"Then why won't you face her for real? The last time you attacked, she didn't have her wand or a real way to fight back. Are you afraid to go up against her when she has her wand?" Marco asked.

Rasticore didn't answer, his body shaking with mirth as he yelled, "You better watch your tongue if you know what's good for you, brat!" He took another uncomfortable step toward the boy, but Marco held his ground, despite the growing fear.

"No, just because I can't make demands, doesn't mean I have to follow yours!" Marco shouted, ignoring every safety instinct that was screaming at him and telling him that purposely angering a Monster assassin was a bad idea, his heart hammering so hard inside his chest he was afraid it would explode.

"You really are as dumb as your parents," Rasticore replied bitterly and Marco's eyes widened, a familiar hurt clenching his chest, drowning out all other feelings. Then a new feeling replaced the pain, a burning anger unlike anything Marco had ever felt before and before he knew it he was screaming at the Monster, "How dare you?! My parents were heroes! They were good people, far better people than you could hope to be! You have no right to insult them like that! Your the dumb one, anyway, thinking you could stand a chance against Star! When she gets here, she's gonna beat you, just like she did Toffee!"

Meanwhile, while that was going on, Kelly was having trouble waking Tad, as she said in the loudest whisper she dared, "Tad. Tad, wake up. It's an emergency."

Finally, her boyfriend stirred, slowly blinked open his eyes and stifling a yawn as he asked, "What? What's going on babe? Did Roy bring out the goblin dogs again?" But the fuzzy creature froze upon realizing that all was not right, as he began worriedly asking, "Whoa, Kelly, why is the restaurant so empty? Who's that with Marco? And why are you tied up?"

"Tad listen," Kelly hissed, not bothering to answer his panicked questions. "I don't have time to explain, but we are in big trouble right now, the restaurant has been taken over, and I need you to sneak out of here as quietly as you possibly can and get help, got it?"

"Yeah but-"

"Babe, I know your confused, but right now I really don't have time to explain this to you, okay?"

Tad nodded, a determined look on his face, as he reassured her, "No problem, Kells. You can count on me."

"I know I can," Kelly replied, giving him a small smile. He floated off her head, heading toward the nearest window, keeping a close eye on the lizard, who was too busy threatening Marco to notice him.

Kelly watched him go, praying he got help in time, knowing with the way things were going it was only a matter of time before the lizard snapped and started attacking them. At the sound of Marco's loud, angry shout, Kelly whipped her head over to see Marco now face to face with the bewildered Rasticore, the hate in the teen's eyes so unlike the Marco she knew, she had to hold back a rising shudder. What had Rasticore said to upset him so badly?

The lizard assassin was dumbstruck by the boy's sudden burst of anger, but recovered rather quickly, the glare returning as he pulled his metal fist back, preparing to punch the hooded teen with all his strength, no longer carrying about keeping him alive to use as a hostage, this brat would pay. What he didn't anticipate, though, was Marco seeing the hit coming and ducking out of the way with a loud scream. Still this didn't discourage Rasticore as he tried to kick out at the boy, but Marco twisted his body around to avoid the heavy boot, though he stumbled and crashed into a table.

Marco watched with panic as the lizard's anger and frustration seemed to grow at being unable to strike the boy and Marco silently thanked Higgs for the training. Rasticore's head snapped over to Marco, a sinister hiss escaping his snout. He launched toward the boy once more, who quickly jumped away, the table shattering into oblivion as the lizard's metal arm struck it with all his strength. The assassin growled, slamming his claws into the ground in irritation.

Kelly and Roy could only watch in disbelief, their mouths hanging open in shock, as Marco managed to clumsily dodge around the lizard Monster. "He's... still alive," Roy remarked and Kelly just nodded numbly.

Rasticore was on his feet again in a matter of seconds and Marco was back on the defensive, moving out of the way of another swing and pulling a chair out from one of the tables, positioning it so it was almost hiding him. "Stay back," Marco warned, though his voice quivered slightly. The lizard laughed at the boy's naivety and stupidity, declaring loudly, "That's not going to protect you."

Rasticore took another step forward and Marco kicked the chair with all his strength, propelling it toward his opponent. The Monster grabbed the chair no problem long before it managed to hit him, but Marco used the distraction to grab one of the vases from a nearby table raising it to throw at the Monster but a panicked shout from Roy, made him hesitate, Roy shouting out in panic, "No, not that one, that one's expensive!"

"Kinda don't have many options, here!" Marco shouted back, though he did set the vase back down. Rasticore threw the chair in rage, the fragile wood shattering as it hit the ground and Marco let out a panicked squeak.

"Use that one, that one Roy bought at a flee market!" Kelly suggested, nodding her head to the vase on a nearby table.

"What no I didn't," the goblin argued. "It's a family heirloom. I got it from my great grandma goblin, it's precious to me."

"Oh please, it's got a giant crack in it, it's worthless," Kelly shot back.

"Guys?!" Marco shouted as Rasticore held out his metal palm, the metallic surface now sparking with electricity. The boy, in a split second, picked up the vase and ripped the flowers out of the pot, saying, "Fine, I'll compromise!"

He sent the water in the vase tumbling toward the Monster, who instinctively held his metal arm up to block, managing to mildly soaking him, which only seemed to enhance his anger to new and darker levels. "Okay, now you are really starting to annoy me, brat!"

He raised his claw hand to shoot another burst of energy at the boy and Marco weakly brought up his hands to cover his face. But no attack came, as the lizard's metal limb became frozen in place, fizzing with bits of energy and making a grating whine. "What?" Rasticore hissed in shock, looking down to see the source of the short, water slowly dripping onto the metallic appendage before quickly coating the fragile wiring within his joints. The electricity quickly backfired as it spread across not just his limb, but his entire body, the water he was drenched in attracting the sparks, screaming in pain, before collapsing over in a heap, momentarily unconscious.

Marco was frozen to the spot for a moment, just looking at the lizard's fallen body in shock, before shaking his head and forcing his eyes away from the sight, racing over to Kelly and Roy trying to quickly untie them, before the lizard no doubt recovered.

"Marco you just beat that guy by yourself!" Kelly shouted in true disbelief. "How did you do that?"

"I didn't beat him," Marco quickly corrected her. "I just bought us some time."

"Which is now up!" Rasticore's furious growl screamed, as the lizard rose up once more, his one good eye narrowing dangerously on the hooded teen. "Now you die!" the lizard roared, holding his useless metal limp in his clawed grip. He charged toward the boy, flipping table and chair alike out of his way.

"Marco, I hope your ready for round two!" Kelly shouted and Marco grimaced, bracing himself for what was going to happen next.

…

Tom sighed loudly, just staring at his melting ice cream in sadness, watching as it dripped down his hand and onto the floor almost mesmerized by the sorrowful sight. "T, you okay? You haven't blinked in, like, minutes. I'm starting to think your dead," Pony asked in concern as she ate her own cone of the cold treat, which was sitting upright on the bench the two currently occupied. The horse lay on the bench, taking occasional licks with her tongue too crestfallen to even float anymore.

"Nooo," Tom groaned in depression, leaning further back in his seat, not even caring as the ice cream slipped off the cone and onto the ground.

Pony looked at the melting puddle in displeasure, before snapping at the downtrodden boy, "Look I know your upset about Star and everything, but that was just uncalled for."

"Who cares?" Tom loudly exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, his cheek flames giving a small simmer, speeding the melting process for the discarded treat up slightly. "It's just stupid ice cream, it doesn't matter! Nothing matter now!" The boy's face switched from annoyance to dismay in half a second, releasing the cone and letting it drop to the ground too as he buried his face in his hands.

"Wow, you are a mess, boy," Pony observed.

"Well what did you expect?!" Tom snapped. "We just blew our one chance to fix things with Star! How are you taking this so well, Pony?"

The emotional teen whipped his head over to shoot the floating horse a glare, but seeing the make-up smears on her eyes from where she had clearly been crying, he simply went back to watching his treat slowly waste away in the summer sun. "Can we go home now?" the boy asked.

Suddenly, a mop of floating hair, appeared out of nowhere, headed toward them and calling out, "Hey dudes! Dudes, I need your help!"

Tom and Pony saw this and shared a look, the former asking, "Do you know that guy, Pony?"

"Uh, no way," Pony said. "Not all floating people know each other, Tom," she added, almost scoldingly, as she rolled her eyes.

"No I mean, haven't we seen him before," Tom said, before scratching at his chin, trying to recall where exactly he met this guy before.

"Wasn't he with that dumb goblin and Kelso or whoever," Pony finally said and Tom nodded in agreement.

Once Tad reached them, panting for breath, despite not using his legs in any way, quickly exclaimed, "Whoa, I'm so glad I found you dudes! You are Marco's friends right?"

"Yeah, but if this is about my commercial, just tell your boss to send me the information and I'll get back to him eventually," Pony said, not even looking the creature in the eye.

"No, no, it's bigger than that!" Tad said, shaking his.. well himself, as he quickly explained in a panic, "Some lizard guy just took over the restaurant and he's holding my girl and Roy hostage!"

"And why does this concern us?" Tom asked in resentment. The last thing he needed was to have to deal with other people's problems, especially when his own was eating away at him.

"Yeah just go to the police or knights or whatever," Pony grumbled. "I'm sure they'll be able to deal with the loser."

"But Marco is fighting him off on his own and I'm not sure how long he'll last!"

This instantly caught the two's full attention, as they both shouted in concern, "What?!" Tom was on his feet in a second saying in annoyance, "Well what didn't you say something in the first place?"

"Come on, let's go save the turd before he goes and gets himself killed!" Pony shouted, before charging into action, Tom and Tad right behind her, the hairy creature temporarily nestling himself on the top of the flaming teen's head.

…

Marco, panting breathlessly, dodging yet another attack from the lizard, dropping to the ground and covering his head with his hands as the lizard's fist smashed into the table behind the boy, knocking it over and shattering it. The boy then had to move out of the way to avoid the claw that attempted to backhand him right in the skull, the boy feeling the air whoosh past him and he shivered, that last attack had been far too close for comfort. Marco was just thankful that he only had the lizard's regular claw to deal with, his metal one or his chainsaw would obviously be too much for the boy to handle on his own.

Not that the boy was faring much better at the moment, because although Marco was holding his own (or at the very least hadn't died yet) it was quite obvious that he had no chance of winning this battle. All he could do was dodge clumsily out of the way of every attack and the more the fight went on the more sloppy even that seemed to get as his body slowly wore down on him. His muscles were aching from overwork and his lungs were screaming at him to let them rest, but the boy could offer them no relief as the fight carried on, Rasticore becoming more and more ruthless by the second as his fury only grew.

The only bright side to all this was that, since his attention was entirely on Marco, he seemed to have forgotten all about Kelly and Roy, the former somehow managing to maneuver her chair so that it was side by side with Roy, the small goblin trying to undo the thick knots around his workers waist and free her from her trapped position, which wasn't easy to do considering his hands were tied the same as Kelly's. Marco just hoped help came soon because he wasn't sure how much longer he could last or how soon until Rasticore remembered his other hostages.

Marco's worried thoughts were interrupted by a loud hiss from Rasticore, who was beyond irritated at his point at his inability to land a single hit on the hooded weakling as he rumbled, "Hold still, you little runt!"

He charged again and Marco forced his rejecting muscles into action as he jumped out of the way, but the lizard's swinging tail managed to trip Marco and the boy stumbled back, landing hard on his butt. Rasticore turned and Marco felt fear spike in his chest, Higgs words of "Your dead" ringing in his head for a second and he felt his heart start to race, as an unwanted flashback occurred, seeing Toffee towering over him instead, and freezing the boy in place. Before Rasticore could hit the boy, though, a loud battle cry from nowhere cut him off as Kelly (now free from the ropes thanks to Roy) managed to catch the lizard by surprise kicking him directly in the gut with the heel of her foot. Rasticore felt the breath knocked out of him for a moment, but quickly recovered as he grabbed the girl's ankle and swung her around, sending her skidding across the ground.

"Kelly!" Marco screamed, snapping him out of his trance, as he rose to his feet, but feeling the Monster's looming presence over him again, had to jump back to avoid another wild punch from the Monster.

"This is just between you and me, boy!" Rasticore growled, as he stalked nearer. "Now then, do you submit and accept defeat! If you tell me where the princess is, maybe I'll even let you live!"

Marco backed up until his back hit a table, grabbing the vase on it out of the lizard's vision. He threw it at the creature, who shouted as it shattered against his skin.

The boy used the distraction to run toward the kitchen area, hoping to at least find something to help even the odds. Rasticore saw this and growled low, "Oh no you don't." He then picked up the nearest table with his one good arm and hefted it forward his all his might, the large object now in a direct collision course with the red-hooded teen.

"Marco, look out!" Kelly shouted in warning and Marco saw the thing coming out of the corner of his eye but had no time to dodge or stop, so he just let out a scream and instead threw himself to the ground, hoping to somehow avoid the hit. Miraculously, the table did miss, sailing over his head and crashing into the table next to him, breaking both tables and shattering the vase at the same time, bits of glass raining down on the fallen boy. After a second, Marco risked a look up, seeing the Monster now shaking with rage. But he wasn't discouraged for long, as he lifted a chair up above his head preparing to throw it at the downed boy, revealing a dark, toothy smile, as he said in a threatening tone, "I won't miss this time."

But suddenly the door to the restaurant burst open, flying off its hinges from a hot blast of flames, another following right after, striking the chair and lighting it instantly on fire, making the lizard stumble and drop the thing, as the flames quickly devoured its prey until there was nothing left but a pile of ash. Rasticore and Marco both looked over to see Tom standing in the doorway, a look of hatred on his face, as he glared at the Monster. "Leave my friend alone!" Tom screamed, his voice a deep boom and his eyes flashing red, his cheek marks now a lit and roaring bonfire.

"Tom!" Marco cried in relief, a bright but tired smile on his face.

"You again," Rasticore hissed in annoyance.

"You met this guy before, T?" Pony asked, appearing behind the flaming teen.

"Yeah, long story, I'll tell you later," Tom said quickly, too focused on the Monster to go into right then.

Tad looked over and spotted his girlfriend, slowly sitting up from the harsh hit she had taken, "Kelly!" the mop of hair shouted, floating over to the love of his life.

"Tad!"" Kelly cried in relief, as he settled back onto the top of her head, nestling deep into her soft green locks, finally back where he belonged, much to both of their relief. The two were so use to sticking together that whenever they were separated it felt like a piece of them was missing, their world feeling incomplete until they were finally reunited. "You made it," the girl added, praise and appreciation ringing in her voice.

"Sure did, babe. I'm just glad your safe," Tad said flirtingly and the girl blushed.

"Oh Tad."

"Uh can one of you untie me please, before I fire both of you?" Roy demanded, his patience finally stretched to his limit.

Tom and Pony, meanwhile, broke out into an all-out fight with the lizard as Tom sent a fireball his way which Rasticore easily dodged, before grabbing the horse head by the horn before it could stab him in the chest. "Hey you let go of my horn, ya square!" Pony shouted in fury.

"Square? What kind of insult is that?" Rasticore asked in confusion, Tom took advantage of the distraction as he slammed into the side of the lizard, using the flames at his feet to make him fly, forcing the assassin to release Pony Head so he could catch himself and keep from hitting the ground. The lizard growled before kicking out with his steel-toed boat, managing to hit an unsuspecting Tom and sending him flying backward.

He sailed over Kelly, Roy and Tad's head, as the green-haired girl finished freeing her boss from the confining ropes. "I'm free at last!" Roy shouted the moment he was no longer restrained, jumping up into his seat and laughing at the top of his lungs. Kelly just rolled her eyes, but had bigger things to worry about than her boss's bizarre behavior.

Marco met back up with them, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, his eyes scanning her closely, as he asked worriedly, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kelly responded nonchalantly. "It's your friends I'm more worried about."

Marco turned to see Tom and Pony still fighting the lizard with all their might, the heat from Tom's flames apparently enough to completely dry Rasticore's arms circuits, making him able to use his metal arm once more, though he was avoiding the energy blasts for obvious reasons. This still spelled out trouble for the teens though, as he went from being a severely handicapped opponent to the deadly and precise killer that the two were now struggling to fight off. He blocked a flaming kick from Tom with his metal limb, while maneuvering his head out of the way of each deadly thrust from the charging horse head, his movements quick and fluid, nothing less to be expected from a trained assassin. He batted the horse out of the air like she was nothing and grabbed Tom in a chocking hold, before slamming him into the ground with no hesitation.

Marco cringed at the loud _bang_ that echoed from the last attack, even as the boy managed to get himself free from the grip, attacking once more. He could see his friend's efforts were failing and they needed some kind of plan before the lizard won once more. "We have to help them," Marco stated with determination, his mind made up. He started to rush toward them, but was stopped when Kelly quickly grabbed his arm. "Wait, Marco," she said and the boy turned to her with surprise.

"Running in there blindly won't help anything," she explained, before a smile slowly brightened her face. "But lucky for you I have an idea." She then turned to her goblin boss saying dramatically, "It's time to execute emergency plan 'P'."

Roy and Tad both gasped, the goblin exclaiming, "No, it can't be done!"

"It must!" Kelly replied, slamming a hand into her palm in emphasis. "Otherwise we're all as good as dead!"

"Wait, what are we doing exactly?" Marco asked, looking lost.

"What we're best at," Kelly responded, the three adding as one, "Baking!"

…

"Annnnddd full castle, I win again!" Janna exclaimed setting down her cards on the floor so Jackie could see.

The girl looked down at the cards then at her own set with a skeptical look, a confused frown on her face. "Wait, how?" Jackie asked, before taking in the cocky smile of her friend. "You didn't say anything about 'full castle' when you were explaining the rules."

Janna shrugged. "My bad I must have forgotten to mention it," she said nonchalantly.

Jackie's eyes narrowed as she said accusingly, "You know, I'm starting to think there is no such thing as Mewman poker."

"Of course there is, Jackie," Janna said, patting her on the shoulder. "Otherwise how would we have been able to play this game for hours straight if I just made it up."

"Because you are an extremely effective liar," Jackie deadpanned. "Besides, the rules of this are so complicated, how could anyone play this game for real."

Janna scoffed, looking down at her nails. "If you think this is bad, remind me never to take you to a Cornball tournament." She patted her friend patronizingly on the head, while the skater gave her a death glare. "I guess Mewman games are just too complicated for you."

Jackie whacked her hand away, saying, "Oh whatever, Jan, if you saw a human game you would be just as confused and would probably end up destroying the field with magic or something."

Janna didn't argue that point, instead saying, "Well anyways I still won, so I'll take my winnings please." She held out a hand in anticipation and Jackie let out a long sigh.

"Fine," she grumbled, handing over her skateboard. "But don't break it, okay?"

"Jacks, I can't believe you don't trust me with your things," Janna gasped, looking offended. "And after we spent so many years together."

Jackie leaned forward with a narrowed look. "That's exactly why I don't trust you."

The door to the room busted open and Jackie and Janna turned to see Star. The two smiled at their blond friend, Jackie greeting, "Hey, Star, what's-" But her voice cut off as she saw tear streaks down the girl's face and instantly jumped to her feet, asking in worry, "Star, what happened?" The girl ran forward into her friend's arms her body wracked with sobs. Janna, still uncomfortable dealing with stuff like this, focused her complete attention on putting the deck of cards away, avoiding eye contact with either of her friends. Jackie just held the girl close, running a hand through her hair to help comfort her, not pressing her anymore, waiting until she was composed enough to answer. And finally, she did.

"I snapped at Marco!" she chocked out, her voice raw from crying.

"What?" Jackie said in surprise, even Janna looking over at them in shock. Her and Marco almost always got along, she had never once seen them even glare at each other, it was crazy to even imagine the two fighting at all. What could possibly have happened to upset Star enough to do that?

Star tried to answer but her words came so fast and were still muffled by her tears that Jackie couldn't make out a word, sounding more like unintelligent mumbling than an explanation. "Whoa, calm down Star," the girl said, stopping her. She dragged her over to her bed and set her down next to her. "Now tell me what happened, but slower this time," Jackie said, putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her and looking deep into her sad, blue eyes.

Star took a deep breath before starting again, much more coherent this time, though she still stopped to sniff occasionally, "I-I went to go see Marco for lunch a-and I could tell something was up but when I g-got there he was with Tom and Pony Head." Janna's head perked up at this, though she kept her mouth sealed shut. "They apparently talked him into g-getting me to become their friend again. And I started to leave, but then Marco followed me and I-I just..." The girl buried her face in her hands again, letting out a single sob.

Jackie swallowed down the lump in her throat. So that was it. She looked over at Janna who had a look mixed between lost and longing and the girl knew she would be no help in fixing this. So the skater took in a long breath before saying, "Star, it's okay."

"No, it's not Jackie!" Star snapped out. "You should have seen his face, he looked so hurt and betrayed, what kind of girlfriend am I?" Her eyes lowered to her lap, where she stared at her hands dully, as if expecting an answer from them.

"A normal one," Jackie reassured her, wiping her bangs out of her face.

"R-Really?" Star asked, sniffing again.

"Yes, all couples get into a fight, it's totally normal."

Star looked relieved, though her eyes were still full of sadness and regret. "But now what do I do? Marco and everyone wants me to forgive Tom and Pony, but, I'm not sure if I can. Well, I mean, I'm not sure if I should." The blond royal's face morphed to a look of fear Jackie hadn't seen on her in years, not since the day she had been told that she was being sent to St. Olga's. "What if I change again? What if I turn into the same troubled child I was before? What if-"

Jackie put a hand on Star's and the girl flinched, looking up at her friend. "Star relax, that isn't going to happen." the skater spoke slow and calm, her bright eyes full of support, doing everything she could to comfort her friend's anxious mind and give her some sense of ease. "I swear that that won't happen, okay? Whatever horrible image you've made yourself out to be in the past, I think you and I have a very different interpretation of how you were back then."

Star gave her a confused look, asking, "How so?"

"Well, the girl I remember was bouncy and full of energy and yes she did have a tendency to get herself into way over her head, especially where Tom and Pony were involved, but she was also kind and caring and put others before herself. She saved many kids who were at their lowest and gave them a home and a purpose. In fact, I can remember quite clearly the day I met her, when I thought all hope was lost and she managed to comfort me with just a smile." The two both got sad looks on their faces at the memory. "But she always brought out the best in everyone..." Jackie took Star's hands in her own giving them an affectionate squeeze. "And part of her is still here, just different. But she's still there, all the very best parts."

Star didn't know what to say to that, so just settled for a hug, trying to commune her gratitude without words, but the gentle squeezing from the skater told her that she knew and understood. After a moment, of silent comforting, Jackie said, "I know your hesitant to trust Tom and Pony again after everything, believe me I get it, I judged them as harshly as you did. But you should at least give them a chance to show that they've changed."

"Yeah and Tom and Pony aren't interested in changing you," Janna finally pitched in. "They just want their friend back, that's all."

Star finally pulled out of the hug, looking between her two friends, for a moment before finally nodding and saying, "Okay, your right, I should give them another chance."

"That'a girl!" Janna exclaimed, rising to her feet and throwing Star over her shoulder, carrying her out of the room. "Now then, let's get you over there to apologize, pronto!"

"Janna, you can put me down, I can walk just fine on my own," Star said angrily, awkwardly folding her arms.

"Hey, I'm just making sure you get there as quickly as you can," Janna argued, still keeping her hold on the girl.

"More like you get to see Tom again, right," Jackie teased as she followed along behind the two.

Janna's cheeks turned pink, though she didn't deny it. "Well regardless you can thank me later."

"I wasn't planning on it," Star grumbled bitterly, her eyes jumping to several servants who were chuckling and whispering under their breath at the embarrassing display. "And I hardly think this is the most dignified entrance for a princess."

"Right now you aren't a princess, Star, but a friend and girlfriend who wrong and sorry," Janna said.

"And how does that justify you carrying me?" Star asked carefully, her voice rising in annoyance.

"It doesn't," Janna replied honestly.

"PUT ME DOWN!"

…

The muted sounds of smashing and screams could be faintly heard outside the normally pleasant Fang Tangs, the noise managing to echo out into the nearly empty streets of Butterfly Village. This drew surprisingly little attention though, as it seemed most of the town was completely oblivious once more to the true danger taking place within the walls of their home. The few passerby's who heard the racket just continued on their path, only pausing for a moment at the most before rolling their eyes or shrugging, assuming the noise to just be another stunt by the restaurant's eccentric owner.

But within, the scene was far more real than a simple act as the two teens were in a life or death struggle with the fierce assassin, a fight which the two were having trouble winning, no match for the experienced Rasticore. Marco watched all of this was a nervous frown as Kelly, Tad and Roy led him toward the kitchen area, the girl keeping a steady grip on his hand to get him to follow. But after each punch Tom or Pony received the hooded teen had to physically stop himself from pulling out of the girl's grip and rushing over to help, even knowing he would be no help in the fight at this point. He just hoped that whatever Kelly was planning would be enough to tip the fight back into their favor.

So, with much resolve, he forced his eyes away from the fight and back to the matter at hand, determined to help in some way. Marco had never been in the kitchen of a real restaurant before and although it wasn't nearly as massive as the castles it was still quite a sight. Under normal circumstances Marco would have taken the time to ogle over every sight the place had to offer, asking question after question, his curiosity almost too much for him to take, but right now he was in too big of a hurry to take anything in.

And it seemed the others were in just as big a hurry as Kelly and Roy began rushing around the room gathering up ingredients and items needed for something, shouting out orders and directions to each other, even Tad doing his part, already beginning to chop up vegetables, leaving Marco to just stand there and watch in confusion. "Um, no offence but is this really the time to be cooking?" Marco asked, feeling that this was a bizarre course of action for them all to take.

"Trust us, Marco," Kelly replied, her voice full of confidence. "We're about to give that jerkface a taste of his own medicine."

Marco still not seeing the overall plan but choosing to put his faith in his friend, asked instead, "Okay, how can I help?"

"Well for starters, you can hand me that box!" She pointed out the object on the counter top next to Marco and the boy obeyed, grabbing it up and reading the label as he handed it over to her, the side reading, 'Fast Rising Flour'."

"Thanks," Kelly said gratefully, before pouring in the ingredient into an oversized bowl, with all the style and skill of a master chef, not a speck of dust touching the counter tops. She then quickly cracked a few purple-colored eyes on the side of the bowl, before dropping them into the mix.

She stuffed the bowl into the boy's arm, giving him a large spoon in the other, as she stated, "Here, start stirring, I'm gonna go get the griffon milk." Marco just watched her walk over to the nearest fridge, opening it up and digging around inside it.

"What are we doing, exactly?" the boy asked, beginning to crave answers that he wasn't being given, and Kelly, looking over and seeing the boy just standing there unmoving quickly shouted, "Marco hurry and stir, before that stuff starts expanding!" Marco screamed and obeyed, trying his best to focus on his task and ignore the dire situation in the next room. This became much easier to do when Roy came over and poured more contents into the boy's bowl, some kind of foul smelling goop that made Marco's stomach turn and he gagged, unable to think of anything but the disgusting slop. "What the heck is this stuff?!" the boy asked, fighting the temptation to pinch his nose, his hands occupied by the bowl and spoon.

"Exploding berries!" Roy exclaimed and the boy's eyes widened.

"Wait what?!"

"Let's just say that that Monster out there won't know what hit him," Kelly said, a sly grin on her face as she poured in the milk. Marco continued stirring as instructed, while Tad threw in the few vegetables that were required for whatever weird recipe they were making. Once the stirring was finished, Kelly pulled out a pan and poured the horrible smelling mix onto a baking sheet, before shoving it into the oven. Marco watched as she moved the timer over until it was on the "Super Deluxe Speed" setting, seemingly ignoring the warning label right below it. "Uhh, are you sure that's a good idea?" Marco asked in concern.

"Don't have a choice!" Kelly replied, as her hand hovered over the button to activate it. She hit the button, before her turning and grabbing Marco, dragging him as far away from the oven as she could, her and the others ducking behind a counter top in a matter of seconds, as they did their best to cover their heads,the sound of the timer ticking away filling their ears. "What are we doing?" Marco asked in growing concern.

"Taking cover," Kelly replied.

"Just in case it explodes," Tad added.

"What?!" Marco squeaked.

Suddenly, there was a loud ding and the hooded teen jumped, thinking that an explosion might follow after. But it didn't, as the others pocked their heads out and stared at the oven for a second, just in case. Once they knew it was safe, they all rushed over, Kelly putting on oven mitts and carefully pulling out the now finished product: a pie.

"Perfect, now to just get it close enough to him to work!" the green-haired girl said.

"Great, and how are we going to do that?" Roy exclaimed in exasperation, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"How about we use those," Marco suggested, pointing to the pile of pots and pans and the others all nodded approvingly at the plan.

"That could work," Kelly said.

Meanwhile, Rasticore continued his attack while Tom and Pony returned the favor full force, Pony charging him with her horn and Tom shooting fireballs at him or hitting him with a flaming punch when needed. The lizard assassin, though was dodging almost all of their attempts and hitting them back with an equal amount of strength to theirs, possibly moreso.

And after taking a particularly nasty hit from Rasticore, Tom found himself being lifted up into the air by the front of his shirt, held above the cruel assassin. The boy fought to escape his grasp, but even his flames did nothing to the Monster, using his metal arm to hold the boy up and effectively avoiding being burned by him. The lizard smirked and said mockingly, "Well it seems your loyalty has gone to waste Prince Lucitor." Tom opened his mouth to respond when he noticed that they were now alone, no Marco or the others in sight.

Pony noticed this as well, now too, scoffing in annoyance, "Did they seriously just ditch us?! After we saved their lives, that's the thanks we get? Ungrateful."

Tom, however, felt no anger like he expected to, instead all he felt was a deep aching in the pit of his stomach, a feeling of sadness and betrayal unlike anything he had felt in a long time, and he was so distracted by this pain that he ceased to struggle, too full of grief to fight back any longer. He barely noticed as the lizard, taking advantage of the boy's hesitation, raised his claw to punch him, saying harshly, "Oh well, I guess you two will just have to die alone, instead."

"Charge!" a voice screamed as Kelly and Marco suddenly ran into the room, holding frying pans as weapons, Roy following after holding some kind of pie. The lizard was caught off guard as the two began wailing on him with pans, making him cry out in pain, trying to block the hits with his claw. "Ow! Hey! Cut it out you little brats!" Rasticore screamed in fury.

"Show no mercy!" Kelly yelled, her voice full of bloodlust as she continued to hit him.

"Let go of my friend!" Marco screamed, focusing his attacks on the metal claw keeping Tom suspended into the air, trying desperately to free him. Tom was frozen in shock for a moment, before he finally recovered from his shock, kicking the lizard in the chest, making him hiss and pain and finally release his grip. Tom used his flames to help him gently float to the ground, where Marco ran over to check on him. "Tom, Tom are you okay?" the hooded teen cried in concern.

Tom just stared at him blankly for a moment, caught off guard by the question, he wasn't used to people showing that level of concern toward him. "Uhh, yeah I guess?"

The two turned back to watch as Kelly continued to wail mercilessly on the lizard, screaming at the top of her lungs, "This is for attacking my restaurant, you stupid lizard!"

Tad the whole time, merely cheered his girlfriend on, saying things like, "Go babe! You got him now! I believe in you Kelly!"

"Your friend is... intense," Tom commented. "And that's coming from me."

Marco nodded dumbly, he was actually starting to feel concern for Rasticore of all people until the lizard shouted, "Enough!" He grabbed the girl's arm and flung her hard to the ground, shooting them all a maddened death glare as he yelled in pure rage, "I will not be made a laughingstock out of by you all again!"

That was when Roy, out of nowhere, suddenly shouted, "Bombs away!" throwing the pie with all his might and nailing the lizard right in the face. There was a massive explosion as the deadly treat went off, everyone doing their best to shield themselves from the intense heat and debris that filled the area, as well as the pie crust and filling that coated every inch of the once pristine restaurant.

Once the smoke had cleared, Marco and company looked at the burnt, singed and messy form of the once-proud assassin, who was swaying uneasily on his feet, before crashing hard to the ground, unconscious. There was a beat of silence, as everyone panted from the long ordeal, until Kelly shouted, "Yes, we did it! We won!" The others cheered too, thankful that they had successfully beaten the feared opponent, Marco even letting out a relieved sigh and putting a hand to his aching head. "Thank goodness," he muttered under his breath, glad that Star was finally safe from this horrid Monster.

"What do you think of that, Mons-turd?!" Pony asked mockingly, turning to the unconscious lizard. But she gasped, saying in disbelief, "What?" and the others followed her gaze to see that Rasticore was now gone. Everyone looked around wildly for any signs of the lizard, but Marco, hearing the telltale sound of a familiar chainsaw revving, turned and saw Rasticore struggling to turn the thing on behind him. "Hey wait!" Marco screamed, but the lizard ignored him, finally getting the thing started and quickly slicing open a portal, giving a final, foreboding warning, "Next time, Marco Diaz! I will have my revenge _and_ Princess Star!"

And before anyone could stop him he stepped through, the portal closing far too fast for any of them to reach him in time. Marco let out an annoyed sigh. _Well there went that_ , he thought depressingly. They may have won the battle this time, but Marco had a feeling the war was far from over.

"Okay, uhh, what the heckie just happened?!" Pony's confused voice interrupted Marco's thoughts. "You boys have some serious explainin' to do!" Everyone then turned to Marco and Tom and the two boys just chuckled uncomfortably, neither sure where to begin.

…

"Come on, Star just open it," Jackie encouraged the girl, as she hesitated for the fifth time in a row, the three standing awkwardly outside of Fang Tang's the two roommates trying to encourage the girl to work up enough nerve to open the door. Star sucked in a deep breath, trying to force herself to take the leap but unable to get herself to do so, she had no idea what she was going to do now that she was here, what was she supposed to say to Marco after the way she acted, or Tom and Pony for that matter. "We don't even know Marco is in there?" Star argued weakly, trying to stall for time.

"Well he said that's where he was headed," Lobster Claws, who had followed them partially the way there when they got to town, pointed out and Star scowled in annoyance.

"Yes, thank you for that, Lobster Claws," Star said bitterly, but the Monster didn't seem to notice her harsh tone as he just puffed out his chest proudly.

"It's what I'm here for," the crustacean responded.

Star let out a sigh, before raising her hand to the doorknob, but once again stopped before ever touching the cold metal.

"Y'know, no matter how long you look at it,the door isn't going to open by itself," Janna commented sarcastically and both Star and Jackie turned to give her a glare.

"Oh be quiet," the two girls said as one. But as Star's attention returned to the door, Janna's comment managed to distract her from all the intense worries she was feeling and finally get her hand into motion, as it swiftly turned the knob of the door. Star's breathing hitched, almost shocked she had actually done it, before she swallowed down her fear and opened the door.

The sight inside was not one any of the group had been expecting, the normally spotless building coated in some kind of purple substance and most of the furniture was either broken or flipped over, the room looking like a tornado had passed through it. And near the center of the building, was a massive hole in the floor, the area around it covered in soot and ash, a clear sign of an explosion taking place there. "What the heck happened here?" Janna asked in shock, the others standing there slack-jawed at the state of the once beautiful restaurant.

"Star?" came a familiar voice and the blond royal finally drew her attention onto the small ground gathered around the only functional table in the restaurant, having been too distracted by the rest of the room to even notice them. There was Marco, Tom, Pony, Kelly, Tad (who sat wide-awake on top of girlfriend's hair like usual), and a goblin Star didn't recognize, all of them covered with the same fruity substance that was spread across every surface of the room. They all looked more disheveled then usual as well Star noticed, but didn't comment on this. They all stared at her for a moment with expressions ranging from joyful to downright astonished. Marco rose from his chair and ran over to his girlfriend, throwing his arms around her in a hug, not even caring as he smeared Star's dress with pie filling. "You came back!" Marco cheered.

But for once Star didn't return the hug, the guilt too overpowering to allow her to do so and she instead tensed in his arms. The boy seemed to notice this, as he pulled away, giving her a long, almost hurt expression and the girl felt her stomach twist into a tight knot at being the cause of that heart-breaking face. "Star?" the boy said weakly and the girl, felt a lump catch in her throat, strangling her.

"M-Marco, I-I'm so sorry!" the girl quickly apologized, while Tom and Pony Head, just watching blankly from the background, no sign of any emotion on their faces, as if they were unsure how to react to this situation. Their unblinking eyes hovered on her, hesitant of what to expect from their old friend. "I never should have snapped at you like that or ran off or reacted any of the way I did!" she continued, a fearful look on her face. "I realize now that I was being dumb!"

"Star," Marco said, putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "It's okay, I understand." He gave her a small smile, before saying, "But y'know, I'm not the one you should be apologizing too." He did a small gesture with his head and Star turned to look in the direction he was indicating, seeing Tom and Pony, looking as awkward as she felt. Star took a deep breath and moved towards them, the two looking more and more troubled by every step.

Finally, Star found herself face to face with Tom and Pony for the first time in months. For a few tense moments no one spoke, Star just staring blankly between each of them, the two looking fearful of what she was going to say or do. Until at last, the blond spoke, "All right first off, what you two did was wrong." She betrayed no remorse for the two, her gaze hard and sharp. "You used me, treated Marco awful, got us both into a lot of trouble, and even tried to made me choose who I could be friends with! And no matter what, I can't just pretend that never happened." The two hung their heads at that, but as Star let out a breath, her tone softened some, "But still that doesn't mean I was right either."

The two finally looked up and locked gaze with her. "Say what now?" Pony asked in shock.

"I was wrong... I let my anger get the best of me. I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I think I was just being stubborn. Being with you was just such a big reminder to before, that I allowed myself to confuse all the things I hated about myself with you two. And that somehow being around you would turn me into someone... I didn't want to be. But if you two can promise to accept me for who am I now, then... I can too."

The two were silent for a moment, before Pony blurted out, "Well duh, of course we can, B-Fly!"

"Yeah, we just want to start hanging out again," Tom added, a relieved and happy smile on his face. But it quickly switched to a guilty frown as he confessed, "And um, I'm sorry for making you choose. I was just being jealous and stupid."

"We both were," Pony pitched in, tapping the boy's shoulder with her neck.

"And um, I don't blame you for picking Marco. He's actually a pretty cool dude once you get to know him." Tom turned to the smiling teen in red, with a wide knowing grin and Star followed his gaze, her own eyes full of love for her bestie.

Marco became teary-eyed, touched at the boy's words, as he said, "Thanks buddy."

"Yeah he is pretty incredible," Star agreed, losing herself in his stunning brown, before turning back to Tom. "And I forgive you, both of you," Star said simply and the two's grins widened. "Friends," she offered, opening her arms wide, offering them a hug and the two quickly accepted. Marco just watched as the three friends finally made up, a bright smile on his face. But a second later he shouted, "Group hug!" running over and joining the three, squeezing his girlfriend tight from behind. The others needed no other encouragement as they joined in as well, even Lobster Claws and Roy. Tom felt his face flush, as he realized that a certain beanie-wearing girl held him from behind, her chin resting knowingly, almost tauntingly, on his shoulder and he felt his mouth go dry, feeling her brown eyes study him from the corner of her eye. "Hey," she said softly, fleetingly and Tom just let out a small, nervous cough.

But as the hug dragged out for far too long, Pony, feeling suffocated quickly shouted, "Okay, enough of the sappy stuff, your making me more messy than before!"

As everyone pulled away, they looked down to see the damage on their clothes, Star frowning as she wondered if even the great Lavabo could get this purple stain out of her favorite dress. "Okay seriously, what is this stuff?"

"Yeah and what happened here, anyway," Jackie asked, looking around the room in confusion, her hands resting on her hips. "It looks like there was a warnicorn stampede in here."

The others all shared a look, none sure what to say to the girls or Lobster Claws. They had just been discussing that when they were interrupted by their arrival. "Umm, well-" Marco began hesitantly, before Tom answered for him.

"Rasticore," he said simply and Star's eyes shot open, her breathing instantly erratic as her head swiveled this way and that searching for the dreaded Monster.

"What, he was here?! Where?! Did he hurt any of you?!"

Marco put both hands on her shoulders to calm her down and her eyes landed on his, staring deep into them. "Star, relax, he's gone," he assured her.

"Wait, b-but how?" Star stuttered in surprise.

"Oh, we took care of that guy no problem!" Pony bragged, with a egotistical grin.

"Yeah that guy will think twice about coming near us again," Kelly added, pounding a hand into her fist.

"Okay, hold on!" Star interrupted, trying to wrap her mind around this shocking revelation. She eyed each of them individually, before saying slowly, "You all fought Rasticore... and won!"

"Well yeah, what did you expect, Star?" Tom answered with a shrug.

"I-I-I don't know," Star said, her mind still reeling with bewilderment.

"Who's Rasticore?" Lobster Claws asked, scratching a claw to the top of his head in confusion.

The others all shared a worried look before Star quickly replied, "No one! Just a-a-"

"Tax collector!" Janna offered, raising a finger into the air.

Lobster Claws eyes widened as he said nervously, "Oh wow, you all really did go through quite the ordeal!"

"Ha ha, yeah," Marco chuckled nervously.

"Well I better be going, the boss will probably want my report soon," the crustacean said.

"Maybe just... leave out most of what happened today," Marco suggested with a hesitant smile. The last thing he wanted was for his dad to find out, knowing he would pick up on their story not adding up and would begin asking some very unwanted questions. If he could avoid worrying his father anymore than he already did, then he would.

The lobster Monster seemed to pick up on this, as he nodded and gave the boy a knowing wink, saying softly, "Don't worry, Marco. Your secrets safe with me!"

The hooded teen breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Thanks!" He ran over and gave him a quick hug goodbye, watching as the Monster exited the restaurant with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Okay so now that that's over, it's time to celebratttteee!" Pony quickly shouted, excitedly.

"Uhh, and by celebrate you mean clean up this mess, right?" Kelly asked accusingly, her eyebrows lowering into a frown.

"Well I was more thinking the Bounce Lounge," Pony answered honestly, but Marco covered her mouth his hand.

"Sorry Kelly, of course we'll help you clean up," Marco said, a bright smile on his face.

Pony pulled away, glaring at the boy, "Say what?! I think I take it back, we can't be friends if your gonna do stuff like that!"

"Come on, Pony, it's the right thing to do," Marco argued.

"Uh, how exactly? I didn't make this mess, if anything you guys were the one who threw that exploding pie, so you should be the ones to clean it up! Or, better yet, we should go track down that lizard and make him clean it up!"

"Come on, Pony, it won't take that long!" Tom said and the horse's glared at the boy.

"Your supposed to be on my side here, T!" Pony shouted.

"Well I think it's a great idea, Marco!" Star said brightly, taking his hand in hers.

"I'm in!" Jackie offered, before turning to her roommate. "What about you, Jan?"

The creepy girl just shrugged, her eyes closed in thought. "Eh, why not?" Her brown orbs suddenly opened, landing on a blushing Tom, giving him a long, knowing stare. "Besides, I already chose my cleaning buddy," Janna said flirtingly, her eyes hinting at a deeper meaning and Tom swallowed hard.

"Well let's get to work then," Roy shouted encouragingly. "The sooner we get done, the sooner I can reopen!"

Pony finally let out a long, frustrated sigh, before saying, "All right, fine, I'll help! But only because I don't want to be out-staged by any of you!" She flipped her mane, huffily, while the others all hid their grins, not commenting on the very true statement.

…

Later, once the restaurant was all cleaned up and the tables and chairs had all been repaired (thanks to Star's magic), the teens were all gathered around one of the outside tables, laughing and chatting, as the sky began to darken overhead. Roy was inside, making some sort of treat to thank them all for their hard work and had insisted that Kelly and Tad sit it out and relax with the others.

"You should have seen Marco though," Kelly said, as they recounted the events earlier that day to Star and the others. The green-haired girl elbowing the hooded teen in the shoulder, who turned to her in surprise, his cheeks tinted pink. "He held off Rasticore all on his own. It was pretty incredible!"

Marco blushed at the praise, as he stuttered out shyly, "Oh, I-I didn't do anything that great."

"Aw, don't be so modest, Marco!" Kelly continued patting him encouragingly on the back, her eyes jumping to Star. "He's the real hero of the day!"

"That doesn't surprise me," Star said softly, putting an arm around the boy and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush wildly. "Wouldn't be the first time?" she practically whispered in his ear and the young couple shared a grin before resting their heads against one another.

"Uhhh, hey, did you all forget who came in and saved your butts?!" Pony interrupted, looking annoyed that the attention was no longer on her.

"Yes, we know Pony and we're really appreciative," Jackie said to calm her down.

"You were pretty incredible too, though, Kelly," Marco said, wanting to share the praise equally, his eyes shimmering. "I've never seen you like that before, you really went all out." The boy hesitated, before adding, "It was kinda scary, actually."

Kelly shrugged. "If you thought that was bad, remind me to never take you to my dimension."

"Why?" Marco asked in concern.

"Because we Woolett's rely on fighting for pretty much everything, you can't even take two steps out of your house without being punched in the face," Kelly replied simply and Marco starred at her wide-eyed for a moment.

"Yeah uh, I think I'll pass," Marco said hurriedly, trying to hide the fear on his face.

Tom was the only one who had yet to say anything, feeling too flustered to speak, distracted by the creepy girl beside him. This was the first time they had hung out since the Blood Moon Ball and honestly now the boy didn't know what to do or say to the girl, his mind jumping to the last moment the two had shared together, his cheek tingling as if he could still feel her lips as they pressed up against his skin and he held back a shudder. It didn't help that the girl had, of course, chosen to sit right next to him, her close contact doing all kind of wild and crazy things to his heart as he struggled to breath right. And he could swear she kept bumping him on purpose, stretching her arm out till it tapped his shoulder for a second, hovering her hand just near enough to his on the table, that their fingers briefly met, and it was driving him crazy. All he wanted to do was to get up and leave. That, or turn to her and plant the biggest and longest kiss on the lips ever. He still hadn't decided which. He tried to keep himself calm and stead, but it was surprisingly hard to do with Janna right next to him.

"Someone's being quiet," Janna suddenly said and Tom could swear that there was a small chuckle in her voice. She stared at him for a long moment, as she added with a cheshire grin, "Cat got your tongue!"

Tom let out a huff, before answering shortly, "No!"

"Ooohhh, someone's feathers are ruffled," Janna replied, with the same infuriating smirk as always. "What's wrong, hotstuff?"

Tom crossed his arms in front of his chest, replying with a growl, "Nothing!"

Janna thankfully looked away, staring off into space for a minute. "You know since you and Star made up, I guess that means we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

Tom didn't know how to respond to that, though he did feel his heart do a skip within his chest. "I guess," he said finally, trying not to let his joy show.

"Y'know we never did get a chance to finish our dance," Janna continued, leaning closer in what most would see as a casual gesture, but to Tom's keen eye, he saw the true implications, as his cheek flames simmered uncontrollably for a moment.

"U-Uh, u-u-um-" Tom stuttered out, his voice unable to form any sort of a comprehensible sentence.

Thankfully, Star saved him from having to answer as she asked the boy, "So Tom, are you up for it?"

"What?" Tom shouted, his voice squeaking against his will, as he turned to the blond.

"I asked if you were interested in becoming a member of my peace commission," the girl explained, not seeming bothered at having to repeat herself, her tone and voice friendly and Tom had almost forgotten how great it was to see her that way. "There's a spot open for you if you want it. Pony already said yes." She looked over at the floating horse, then back to Tom, waiting patiently for his answer.

"Yeah sure, of course Star," the boy said, giving her a wide smile. "You're out there being the best princess you can, it only makes sense that I should do the same."

The girl blushed slightly, but her smile remained strong as she said sweetly, "Thanks Tom."

"Well, I think it's only fitting we celebrate this occasion with a special meal!" Roy shouted, as he emerged from the restaurant carrying a plate of some sort of hotdog thing. He set out the massive plate on the table as he continued, "And I can think of no better meal than my one-of-a-kind, Roy brand, Goblin Dogs enjoy!" He did a wide bow to the group as everyone eyed their meal.

Kelly and Tad both shot their boss a glare, as the green-haired girl stated, "Roy, I thought we talked about this. No Goblin Dogs."

Star's eyes narrowed as she looked her food over, before saying, "Isn't this stuff illegal in over 900 dimensions?"

"Yes, but not this one," Roy quickly defended himself.

"Uhh, actually it is," Star corrected, her tone hard. "I know. I signed the paperwork banning it."

Star crossed her arms, glaring over at him, waiting for the goblin to respond or defend himself. Roy just stood there, unblinking for a moment, before shouting at the top of lungs, "Fang Tangs is now closed for the night!" He quickly grabbed the tray and ran back toward the restaurant.

"Roy!" Kelly shouted after him, but the goblin quickly interrupted her.

"I'm not Roy anymore, time to change my name and move to another dimension!" Roy quickly ditched his hat and apron, throwing the Goblin Dogs into the nearest trash can, a dark green smoke beginning to rise from within a second later. Once the door slammed closed, the teens just stared at the spot for a moment in startled silence, a long awkward pause passing between them.

Until finally, they all began laughing, after the strange, crazy, and emotional day, this had been the tipping point to set them all off. And as the moment just continued and stretched long, while the goblin furiously worked on packing away his things in his plans to flee the dimension in a hurry, they began to laugh and smile not over the goblin's paranoid behavior, but rather how great it felt just to be near each other and enjoying each others company. And they all realized that this was, in many cases, the beginning of a beautiful, new friendship and they were each looking forward to seeing where to would take them.

 **Soo there you go! I think this one might be the longest to date. Or at least up there with the other more lengthy chapters I write nowadays. So I hope you enjoyed Tom and Pony Head's redemption arc, I have such a blast with these two characters and I just love writing them. Again I was going to put this chapter in much later but I decided it fit better here, since it allows for the two of them to be members of Star's commission and I've been taunting you enough with hints of them coming back.**

 **Oh and the name of the restaurant: "Fang Tangs" was suggested to me by my good friend Ghosta16689, so thanks for that friend! The next one planned is gonna be Daisy and Violet meeting the Monsters since you all have been asking for that fervently almost as much as this one and I would be hard at work to bring it to you all! See you next time, love you all! Bye!**

 **Gamelover41592- Thanks! Yep Ludo is indeed here and don't worry there will be more on him later on! For now enjoy the Tom and Pony Head redemption.**

 **Viceversa96- Aww, yeah don't worry I'm not going away anytime soon, I still have a lot planned and I am enjoying this story too much to quit before it's done, I owe it to myself and my readers. I think so too, I mean there will be an inevitable drop-off when the dust settles and I'm already anticipating not getting as many views at some point in the future (I mean I think my loyal readers will stick around but some will just lose interest in Star vs and move on to different things) but I like to think that Star vs left a strong enough impact that there will be people making content long into the future. I mean Danny Phantom has been off air for over ten years and there are still people reading and making stories for that! So I am hopeful and optimistic for the future of my favorite show's fanbase!**

 **The show did have it's problems I won't pretend it didn't, but I still enjoyed it immensely! I thought it was nice to include Tomstar and Kellco for the fans who enjoyed it, I just wish it was better executed. It felt less like a ship that was there for the fans or because it made the most logical sense for the characters but rather was there to pad for time and keep Starco from happening until last minute. I don't hate the show for it, honestly it was better that then what I feared would happen when we reached the season 2 finale and Star confessed, that being Star and Marco becoming a couple, but breaking up and getting back together to create drama, so at least they didn't do that. CotBM didn't break me the same way it did a lot of fans, but I was sad to see one of my favorite episodes undone. Still it all worked out, Starco is cannon and that is the important thing, now it can live on forever in the Stardom!**

 **Uhhh, yes you can do that! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited and I can't wait to see how it turns out! Oh, but don't feel pressured though, take your time and have fun with it, still *squeals in delight*! My fans just keep getting cooler, seriously! Thank you so, so much! Me and the dorks love you too! ;D**

 **Xzbro- Hellloooo! Um, sorry not trying to be rude but I think this is our first time meeting or are you talking about one of the characters? I'm confused. Still anyways, hi all the same and welcome if this is your first time here! *Hugs!***

 **The Mystic Potato- Oh my is this some kind of code that needs to be deciphered! *Pulls out pen and paper and begins trying to solve problem***

 **D4rK Sid3- Thank you, I like it! Yes Marco is slowly overcoming his insecurities and growing into a full, well-rounded person! My boy has gained some much needed confidence and can now speak his mind when needed, I'm so proud!**

 ***Hugs Marco close* Marco: (strained) Um, your crushing me.**

 **Oh he will indeed there is no way that will be last we see of him, for someone so small he creates a very big problem that is remarkably hard to get rid of.**

 **Reverseflash- Nooo, don't encourage him, aww now he'll never go away!**

 **Bill: Hey I just rearranged all your chapters so they are in the wrong order hope that's okay. *turns to Reverseflash* Oh hey it's you again, well your in luck friend, cause I just finished writing the first draft of my chapter.**

 ***takes the paper* All it says is: "Bill wins" and then just you laughing for eight pages.**

 **Bill: Exactly, just giving the people what they want.**

 **Ugh, you are worse than Janna. Well thank you, I enjoy these type of writers too, hence why I am one. I think it is boring and stale to just post a chapter and that's it, I like to interact with my readers and have some fun with them, too! After all it's because of you all I'm doing this, so this is my small way of giving back and showing my appreciation. Heh, yeah that's what I was going for actually, Marco appreciates having people looking after him and makes him feel loved and comforted, unlike Star who took it as they thought she was too weak or immature to handle things on her own. I think cannon Marco would also accept help too, though I think he would feel partially inferior to Star, since him being seen as her equal did seem to be important to him. Thank you, I'm glad you like it and I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **Bill: Well then let's shake on it, pal! *holds out blue flaming hand***

 **No wait, don't shake his hand-**

 **CaitiAthena- Yep, Buff Frog can't say away forever, especially not when his baby boy is in trouble! Buff Dad has to protect his kid at any cost! Haha, I adore Buff Frog and his character, particularly his fatherly side, I hope you enjoy and/or enjoyed the rest of the chapters and Buff Frog's part in them!**

 **Luci96- Thank you! Yeah Marco wants to do his part to help and so would naturally try and fix whatever problems his family is having! I had a lot of fun writing his attempts to help and having him put his heart and soul into it! It was a failure but at least he tried. Maybe, you never know. *coyly smiling to myself and rubbing hands together menacingly* hahahaMWAHAHAH! Seriously though, you'll just have to wait and see! I still have plans yet for Ludo!**

 **Wait no more, cause... it's heeerreeeee! *weak airhorn blows***

 **brody Putnum- Thanks! *bows humbly***

 **FREFERNA2008- Great, glad to have you here, welcome to my story! I love newcomers and I have this tradition where I try and give them each a hug soooo... *HUGGSSS!* I'm happy to see you are enjoying it, it always brings a smile to my face to know people are enjoying my work!**

 **Oh sure, you are welcome to send me them, I can't make any promised because I don't want to compromise the story I have planned but I do my best to work them in! And this idea is amazing! Yes, now I need to make that and since I can't think of a good place to work it in yet, I'll give you this short story just in case:**

 ***begin scene***

 **Star heard giggling coming from Marco's room and froze, a frown forming on her face. She knew those voices and hearing them come from her boyfriend's bedroom could only spell trouble. She quickly entered the room, slamming the door open and demanding, "Okay girls, whatever you two are doing to Marco needs to stop now!"**

 **The three, surprised by the interruption, all turned to the blond royal, the twins with looks of guilt at what they had done. Star's jaw dropped open, unable to contain her shock at the state of her boyfriend, as she struggled to form a coherent sentence, sputtering out quickly, "Marco? Wh-Wh-What are you wearing?!" His hair had been brushed back and covered in small bows and pretty hairclips, his familiar red hoodie and jeans now replaced with a frilly pink dress that looked fit for a princess. His face was smeared with blotchy lipstick and mascara which the twins had obviously applied considering it was spread far too thick on his eyes and lips and was running down his face in some places.**

 **"Why? Does it not look good?" Marco asked with a surprising amount of concern.**

 **"Well, um, it does but, uh..." Star was struggling to answer, her brain still trying to wrap itself around the sight of her bestie in a dress. "Why are you wearing that?"**

 **"We wanted to try and make him look pretty like you Star," Daisy explained.**

 **"He said it was okay," Violet quickly added, hoping to avoid getting in trouble.**

 **Star let out a deep sigh, before saying, "Yeah well, while he does look good in pink I think I prefer him in red."**

 **Marco and the twins all cocked their heads to the side at the same time and Star fought the urge to laugh. "Really?" they all said as one and Star nodded. "Yep, red is definitely your color." She turned to the twins, telling them, "Now why don't you two run along and let Marco get changed okay?"**

 **"Okay," the two said, before racing out of the room, Violet muttering to her sister, "I told you we should have tricked him into wearing the bunny suit instead."**

 **"We will next time," Daisy whispered back, the two thinking they were out of earshot of Star, which they weren't. The princess quickly gave them a warning glare and they froze, before hurrying along at an even faster pace. Star turned back to Marco who was washing the goop of his face with a washcloth and Star smiled, going over and giving him a quick peck on the cheek when he was done. "So you want to look like a princess, huh?"**

 **"Yeah, I figured I'd try it, since you do it all the time," Marco explained honestly. "You never told me that dresses were this comfortable."**

 **Star frowned, saying, "That's because you haven't had to wear one with a corset for hours and hours on end."**

 **"What's a corset?" Marco asked and Star quickly changed the subject.**

 **"Nevermind." She picked up the tube of lipstick and asked him with a smile, "Want me to show you how to put on make-up the right way?"**

 **Marco nodded eagerly, his grin making Star's heart flutter.**

 ***end scene***

 **And there you go! Hope you enjoyed it! As for the second suggestion, well chapter 4 of my prompt list for Starcoweek5 actually does have Marco and the gang taking a trip to Earth, so if you want you are welcome to read that! Thanks for the review and the ideas, it was fun!**

 **Sugar- Hehe, yeah I couldn't resist, Marco sleeping with Corny was just too good an idea not to use. X3 And yes, they do! Now I'm picturing them laying him around the castle and trying to trick others into thinking he can talk to! I would be too, actually, hahaha!**

 **Yep this is a valid complaint my friend, I do my very best to make Marco have a good balance of helpful but sometimes in need of help, but I'm not a perfect writer so sometimes he comes across as too helpless. You are right I don't want him to be nothing more than a damsel in need of rescuing from his hero. I actually took this into account while writing this chapter, as well as the rest going forward, hopefully I did a better job here. After all, I don't have to compromise his personality to order to achieve this. The problem is when I came up for the idea for that chapter like two years ago I wanted Star to come in and rescue him there, so I kept it in despite the fact I probably shouldn't have or at least played it out differently than I originally imagined. I had so many ideas that blended together when I was making this story that I don't always realize how it doesn't make as much sense for his character now or for Star for that matter.**

 **And hoo boy, I knew I shouldn't have shoved that in there. I had her nearby to try and get around the plothole of "How did she open a portal within the barrier?" (even though I just realized Higgs did that very thing several chapters ago) but that led to a possibly worse problem of having Star come across as too overprotective and paranoid about Marco. Looking back on it it would have been simpler to have her coming by to see how things were going, not hovering nearby just in case. But in defense of myself, Star has been almost paranoid after what happened with Toffee and then Rasticore pushing her over the limit, something I addressed in "The Bodyguard" but didn't really resolve. Those feelings didn't go away, so by finally confronting Marco about it and him telling her that while he appreciates it she doesn't need to, she will back off from now on. But she will never stop giving him hugs when he needs them or even when he doesn't, though he will learn to handle pressure easier as time goes on. Anyway, I appreciate the constructive criticism, I'm mature enough to know it comes from a place of caring. You wouldn't take the time to notice these things or tell me if you didn't like my story so thanks for wanting to make it and me better, friend!**

 **Ludo's evolution... umm, spoilers. But I had a plan for him before season 2 came out, before his growth really occurred and well, I didn't anticipate his full turn around soooo, we'll see what happens, I guess. I loved his growth in the last two seasons even if it was short and I hadn't even thought of where to put Dennis in. Haha, I remember watching the episode where they introduced Ludo's parents and that's when I came up with the idea of Ludo's and Buff Frog's families fight for dominance. I'm not sure how much I should tweak and how much I should leave as is now, but I'll figure it out.**

 **Haha, I'll do my best, don't need to make perfect damsel Marco Sue gets tied to the railroad tracks by Rasticore waiting for Star to save him a thing. Glad you liked my typical mix of humor and drama. The chapter was fun to write, I love jokes, heart to heart talks and Starco, so this one was a blast for me! Thanks!**

 **Bedrock Armor- Yep and now it's at 311! My readers are just awesome! (And that includes you too, by the way ;D)**

 **Yes, yes he is. He's my favorite at least! And poor Marco just can't understand that concept, excluding Toffee, he believes everyone deserves being saved and thinks they all can and want to be. (He was too afraid of Toffee to see him as anything less than a tormentor) It does have something to do with that, but I was also trying to account for the fact that dimensional scissors can't be used within Butterfly Village, so I clarified to avoid a plot hole. *Looks several chapters ago when Higgs used scissors in castle* Dang it!**

 **Oh yes well I used him because one of my reviewers wants to make a deal with him so I'll write a chapter with Bill in it again.**

 **Bill: Yeah so don't worry about it, pal! I'm done with the whole Weirdmageddon thing, promise? Cross my heart and hope to disintegrate into a million pieces *turns red with big booming voice* THANKS TO THAT NO GOOD STAN PINES!**

 ***sighs* Is there something in the journal to get rid of him, he's taking over my review section.**

 **Bill: Ha, good luck there, Shipster! I can't be killed, I will live on forever in my minds of my fans.**

 **Shipster, that's just a dumb name.**

 **Bill: You wrote it.**

 **Anyways, sorry got way off topic there, that sound awesome! I love a good sci-fi story (I grew up watching Star Trek actually) so I am 100% on board this idea! Nice, I like her already! A good alien girl who is just the right amount of nerdy so that she's just a dumb stereotype! Though the four arms makes me think of Stitch and now I'm wondering if she can retract them or just has them always. Maybe she is accepted for how she is and doesn't go around hiding this, kinda like Star which did a nice twist by not having her have to hide her magical princess status from most everyone.**

 **I like the setting, not all sci-fi's have to take place in the future, in fact most of my favorites don't. I especially like the realistic approach to it, which is sorely lacking most of the time from even the best sci-fi stories. Though I'll be honest that last bit... went way over my head. Still... cool.**

 **Oh boy your asking me for advice? Well I'm flattered and I'll see how I can help. When writing a longer, mini-story chapter, have a purpose for it in mind. Even if you are writing it to provide some sort of relief from whatever else is going on there should be a reason for it existing otherwise it will feel out of place from the rest of the story. Like I consider The Bodyguard to be a side chapter but it's purpose was to show Star is having anxiety over Marco getting hurt again and Marco deciding to learn self-defense. Stand alone chapters don't have to tie in to the rest of the story but they should always have purpose, especially in a book. Otherwise you get a chapter that could be skipped over altogether.**

 **The important thing is to make sure break chapters come at a time when it makes sense. Maybe have them happen after a particularly intense chapter, to help lighten the mood and give your readers a break, as long as they don't suck them out of the dramatic tension. For instance, maybe it is the end of a particularly nasty arc where there was a lot of drama or whatever, the next one could be a more lighthearted chapter to help both the characters and readers relax and recuperate. In fact did you know that is movies most are divided into three act structures. Act 2 is usually the longest and is usually the most tame of them, it is where most of the exposition and establishing takes place and is more relaxed in comparison to the third act where the climax takes place, so the middle can also be a good place to sneak in a little side story. My best advice to you look at your story arc by arc, figure out what happens and when and then slide in some filler where needed. Keep in mind that when you begin writing you should be ready to adjust for changes that need to come your way. Naming things is not my specialty sorry, I literally spent weeks trying to think of something but nadda! I hope this helped, I'm not really used to giving out advice, but if you have any more questions or something was unclear and no the way you wanted feel free to let me know or hey PM if you want. I don't always answer right away but I will try to get to you as quickly as I can.**

 **Oh don't worry about it! I understand life gets in the way and I'm in no hurry. I just hope you don't give up on it is all. You are literally preaching to the choir here buddy. I struggle with both of these sicknesses on almost a daily basis. (remember when I went three months without posting!) So I will give you the best advice I can for dealing with this: just do it. I know, I know that sounds like really dumb advice but trust me this is the best way to deal with this stuff. The hardest step is starting. To dealwith lack of motivation and laziness is to just make yourself do it anyways. Sometimes a little force is required to get you going. Force yourself into that chair, turn on that microphone and just do it. You will thank yourself later. For me once I actually sit down and start, I find the ideas flowing and I can actually get it done. If you are still struggling I would also suggest, setting a timer or stopwatch on your phone or something, that way you feel like you are on the clock in a way and you will feel more motivated to work.**

 **Monkey lover 911- Well you are sooo welcome, friend! I love getting your reviews and answering whatever questions you might have! Oooohhh ummm... maybe. He will definitely be trying something sneaky that's for sure, it's Ludo after all. As always I will and I think you are the awesome one, my friend! ;)**

 **jaffa3- Oh man so do I! Buff Dad is best dad! Wow, thank you for saying that! It's because he's Marco's dad isn't it? Haha, I love the stories with a loving father taking care of his kid and so I had to incorporate that here. He is supportive, caring, protective, and loving, all the things a good father should be!**

 **Guest- That's great, this fandom is a great place to be! *whispers* It's better than the show itself in my opinion. Wow, that is high praise, since there are a lot of great stories out there for mine to be so close to the top! Thanks a ton! Oh boy, Starfall, now that takes me back. A good read. I love to incorporate as much of the show's elements and lore into mine and blending them together in a way that makes sense but still stays as faithful as possible. The characters are honestly my pride and joy though, I try to highlight my favorite elements of each of them and change just enough so that they are recognizable to themselves but also their own individuals separate from the shows. Thank you, it is always nice when people notice how much time and work I put into this story. This is something I take great care into making and have a blast while doing it! I don't plan on it friend, I plan on taking this all the way through! *strikes dramatic pose* Hehe, I only really quit one story and that was only because when I started writing it I had no idea where it was going and so didn't know how to finish it. This one I've known from day one where it's going. I honestly don't think I could quit, it would feel wrong for both myself and my story to just leave it unfinished and sitting on some shelf. *blushes profusely* Though I don't know if I'd take it that far, a disservice to all fans, hehe, that's really sweet of you to say! ^/^**

 **Guest- Oh thanks! I try very hard to make this as good and entertaining as possible, both for myself and for my readers! And it seems to pay off, haha! Glad you like it and I hope you continue to do so long into the future!**

 **Next Update: 2-3 weeks**


	28. Monster Mayham

Chapter 27: Monster Mayhem

 **Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a great week! As always thanks you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews, they mean the world to me and keep me trying to do my best, because knowing so many of you are reading and enjoying makes me want to try my very hardest to give you the story you deserve! And today's chapter is as promised about Violet and Daisy meeting the Monsters! I worked really hard on this one and I loved how it turned out, I hope you all agree.**

 **Yeah don't got too much to say, without spoiling something, but oh yeah figured I'd let you all know amazon currently has Star plushies! I already bought me one, but I'm not sure how fast they will sell out so you should get one that if you haven't already. Unless you are one of the ones who got a plushie last year at comic con in which case... supppper jealous!**

 **One thing I do want to say before we get started, a big shout out and thank you to RJ Writing Ink! He has this awesome blog on Wordpress and he just recently finished a week of recommending and reviewing his favorite star fanworks in honor of the shows finale and this one was actually included! It was really neat and cool to see and honestly if you are at all interested you should check him out. His blog includes Star vs obviously, Amphibia, anime and manga, Marvel, Disney movies, Game of Thrones, basically whatever he is a fan of or interested in. He doesn't get nearly the amount of views he deserves and I've really enjoyed reading around his content! If nothing else he did this really awesome piece about why Starco is a great couple and it is absolutely worth checking out!**

 **Okay so now I won't keep you any longer, so please enjoy and I will see you all at the bottom!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"Hold still, sweetie!" Lily commanded softly, struggling to put the backpack on her daughter's back, Violet jumping around so much it was becoming nearly impossible. But the young girl was too excited to listen, as she continued to squirm. She had waited her whole life for this day and it seemed the anticipation was proving too much for her to handle as her thoughts ran wildly out of control. Today was the day she was going to finally meet a real life Monster! "Violet if you don't behave I won't allow you to go with Marco and Star," her mother reprimanded.

The girl instantly stilled, allowing her mother to finish, though she did comment impatiently, "Come _on,_ mom! Hurry up, I want to get going!"

Lily ignored her daughter's whining voice, as she looked over to her other child, who sat on her bed, unmoving, hugging a pillow to her chest. "Daisy, you should hurry up and get ready, Star and Marco will be here soon," she said patiently.

Daisy frowned, asking softly, "Do I have to go?"

Lily stood and walked over to her peach-haired daughter, cupping her cheek in her hand as she stared into her nervous eyes. "Daisy, Marco was nice enough to offer to take you with him while he's visiting his family today, don't you think it is only right to be grateful to him?"

Daisy nodded slowly, though the hesitancy was still hidden behind her eyes. She looked up at her mom again, saying worriedly, "But what if the Monster's try and eat me or-"

"Sweetie," her mother interrupted her, her voice low and soothing. "Do you think I would let you go if I thought it was dangerous?" Daisy shook her head, squeezing her pillow tighter. "Do you think Marco or Star would take you if they thought there was even a chance you could get hurt?" The girl's lip quivered as she shook her head again. "Than don't you think that maybe you can trust us to know what is best for you?"

The girl didn't reply at first, her eyes just roaming around the room for a few seconds, before she answered, in a voice barely above a whisper, "Yeah, I guess."

"Good girl," Lily said, giving her daughter a quick peck on the forehead. "Now why don't you help me and Violet finish packing?"

The girl's face brightened some, as she took her mom's hand and stood up from the bed, helping stuff the rest of their supplies into her purple, flower print backpack. "Mom, can we take a few snooker's bars with us?" Violet asked, holding out a couple of the candy bars for her mom to see.

Her mother eyed them for a moment, thinking it over, before saying, "I'm not sure if allowing you two sugar on your trip is a good idea."

"Aww, but mom-" Violet started to whine, when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Lily said automatically and the door opened to reveal Star and Marco, with smiling faces, holding each others hands tight.

"Big brother!" Daisy screamed, running over to hug the boy. Even though she was still afraid, she couldn't help but feel joyful seeing her honorary brother. She threw her arms around him and he released Star's hand to hug her tightly back.

"Hey!" he greeted, equally cheerfully. "Are you two excited to meet my family?"

"Yeah!" Violet screamed, pumping a fist in the air, while Daisy visibly tensed but kept her mouth shut.

"Well, we better start heading out then," Star said, her voice shaking some with the anticipation of the adventure that awaited them. She hadn't been out of the castle in days, save for the ordeal at Fang Tang's a few days ago, but the less said about that the better. She could really use a break from all the hard, mentally draining work she had been doing. And since her commission was finally set up and ready to have it's first meeting in less than a week, she figured now would be as good a time as any to get away from it all. And a trip with her boyfriend, cousins and the Monsters didn't sound like a bad thing at all. She just hoped she could maybe sneak some alone time with the boy, later on. The two hadn't even been able to watch the sunset like they usually did in weeks and she was starting to become starved for some extra attention from her bestie.

"Okay!" Violet screamed, not even bothering to wait, as she ran out of the room, shouting over her shoulder, "Bye mom, see you tonight!"

Lily sighed as she watched her daughter run out of the room, Star following after her to keep an eye on her. She then turned to the hooded teen, who was still being squeezed by her older daughter. "Thank you for offering to take them with you, Marco. I know those two can be a bit of a handful," Lily thanked him warmly.

Marco shook his head replying, "Oh, it's no trouble. I love spending time with them and Star's coming with, so we shouldn't have any problem taking care of them."

"Well still, I think it is very sweet of you to do this for them. I know Violet is excited."

Marco looked down at Daisy, who still had him in a death grip, burying her head in Marco's hood. "What about you, Daisy? You seem upset."

"Oh she's just a little nervous about meeting the Monsters is all," Lily said honestly.

Marco frowned and looked down at the girl, saying reassuringly, "There's nothing to be worried about Daisy. My family is really nice. You'll like them, I promise!"

The girl didn't respond and the boy gave her a sad look. He didn't want her to be afraid, least of all of his family. Maybe once she got there and actually met them she would feel better and be more comfortable around them. But part of him considered leaving her here, not wanting to frighten her more than she already was. Lily seemed to be able to tell what the boy was thinking, as she walked closer holding the sealed backpack, telling him, "She'll be fine, Marco. She is going have to face this fear eventually. The world is changing and she needs to be able to face the Monsters, since I have a feeling that they're alliance with us will only grow stronger with time."

"I hope so," Marco admitted softly. It was wishful thinking, but one he would welcomingly believe.

Lily bent down and put the backpack over her daughter's shoulders, the girl turning when she was done and giving her mother a quick hug. She moved so her head was buried in her mother's shoulder, hiding her gaze from her mom's watchful eye, whispering quite enough that Marco couldn't hear, "Please don't make me go."

Lily pulled out of the hug, giving her daughter a soft smile. She said nothing as she gently brushed the bangs out of her eyes. Her look told her that she was doing this for her own good, but it did nothing to still Daisy's fears any. She reluctantly took her big brother's hand and let herself be led out of her room.

…

"I'm telling you the flowers should go over there!" Beard Deer's loud yell echoed through the treetops and nearly caused the now completed Diaz home to rattle. He jabbing a finger in the desired direction, a spot of cleared ground on the side of the house waiting to be utilized to help bring life to the empty yard. But it seemed the Monsters were all having trouble agreeing on what the best course of action for that would be, none of them exactly expert exterior decorators, causing bitter feelings and arguments to break out often.

"Well if we put them there, where am I supposed to put the lawn gnomes?" Bearicorn argued back, holding up the the three eyed ceramic gnome to the angry second-in-command.

"Nowhere," Beard Deer countered forcefully, the look in his eyes strong enough to make the flowers wilt. "Those things are creepy, you want to scare Marco every time he comes over!"

"But without them, then our garden won't be safe from demon bunnies!"

"You really believe that nonsense, that's just a dumb myth!" Beard Deer spat irritably.

"Oh yeah well tell that to my great-grandbear who got eaten by one of those things!" Bearicorn shouted, before he got a sad look on his face at the unhappy memory.

"Um, Beard Deer?" Spike Balls spoke up and the Monster in charge huffed, before whipping his head around to snap, "What?!"

The large Monster held out a cactus, which was held delicately in his oversized hands. "Where should I put this?"

The two Monsters eyes widened at the dangerous plant. "Where did you get that?" Bearicorn asked nervously.

"You asked me to buy one at one of the Earth vendors," Spike Balls explained.

Beard Deer face-palmed. "I said carnations, you idiot, not cactus!"

"Oh," Spike Balls said sheepishly.

"Great, what are we supposed to do with this?" Beard Deer growled in frustration. He swore these morons were going to make him lose his mind.

"Welllll at least we got the cornflower seeds like you asked," one of the two-headed Monster's head cautiously uttered.

"Uhhh," the other head interrupted, showing him the empty bag, a small rip in the bottom. Behind them, Big Chicken was pecking away at the scattered seeds like there was no tomorrow.

Beard Deer now looked ready to explode with anger, his teeth grating together painfully and the other Monsters took a wary step back, ready for him to snap. But just as his mouth opened to scream another biting comment, a claw landed on his shoulder and he turned to see Buff Frog with a calm and levelheaded look, Boo Fly perched on his shoulder. "Please, all of you, enough arguing. Marco be here soon and he bring guests," he said and the others all got excited looks on their faces at that thought. Buff Frog had his own smile on his face, as he added, "Must be on best behavior and not fight in front of Marco."

The others all nodded and quickly began to scatter to finish preparations for his arrival. They wanted the reveal of the finished house to be a momentous occasion for their young family member and needed everything to be perfect for when he got there. Buff Frog gave Beard Deer a pat on the shoulder before firmly stating, "I will oversee things from here."

The deer Monster saluted, not daring to argue with his leader. From there, the amphibian oversaw all the last bit of finishing touches for his home, directing his Monsters where needed and getting things done in record time. Buff Frog was just admiring the finished work when a voice from above asked, "Uhh, boss where do you want this?" Spike Balls asked, still awkwardly holding the cactus in his giant, rounded hands.

"Marco bringing over kids, would be best to get rid of," Buff Frog said and the Monster nodded, before throwing it with all of his strength, sending it flying over the treetops. The muscular frog watched it until it disappeared from sight, before turning back to the tall Monster. "Not what I meant."

A second later, there was the familiar sound of a portal opening, all the Monsters turning to see a pair of scissors ripping a hole through reality. They all sucked in a breath, as Marco and Star walked out of it holding hands, along with two young girls. One had her hand linked with the hooded teen's free hand and was trying to hide behind him as they stepped through, nearly out of sight from the Monsters. The other just stood there slack-jawed, staring at them all with sparkling pupils.

After a few seconds of staring, she let out a high-pitched squeal that startled all of the Monsters, causing them to jump in surprise and worry, thinking something was wrong. "Oh my gosh, real Monsters!" she screamed in joy, her body shaking as she struggled to contain the level of excitement she was feeling. "Big brother! Star! Look there are Monsters, real Monsters here!" She held her arms out in gesture toward them and Star and Marco both shared a smile.

"Yes, Violet we know," Star said, shooting her a grin.

She moved speedily closer to them, her mouth moving a mile a minute as she darted between each of the startled Monsters. "I have so many questions!" she continued, still at a near squeal. "What do you guys eat? Have you ever eaten Mewmans? Marco and mom said you don't but I want to make sure. Oh can you do dark magic, like raising the dead and stuff like that? Cause that would be really cool! Could you teach me how? I would love to bring my dead hamster back to life and scare Daisy with it."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down small Mewman girl," Buff Frog spoke up, stepping out from the crowd of Monsters and bending down so he was level with the child. "Can't answer questions if you talk too fast."

"Sorry," Violet said, her cheeks flushing for a second, before continuing earnestly. "I'm just really excited to meet you guys! Oh, my name is Violet by the way!"

"Well we happy to meet you, Violet. I Buff Frog, Marco's father. He said you very interested in Monsters."

Violet nodded once, "Yeah, big brother has told me a lot about you and it's always been a dream of mine to meet a real life Monster.

"Really," Buff Frog said, giving the girl a kind smile.

"Yep, I even sleep with a stuffed one every night, even though Daisy thinks it's silly," Violet continued.

"You do," the frog Monster questioned, his voice light and cheerful.

"Mm-hmm, I can show you," the dark-haired girl said, before taking her backpack off and pulling out the small stuffed Monster that was black with small horns and a single eye. She handed it to Buff Frog who eyed it closely.

"Oh, is very handsome, must be strong and brave," the frog observed seriously and Violet smiled proudly.

"His name is Charles. Mom got it for me for my birthday," she explained, hopping up and down on the heels of her feet.

Buff Frog smiled and handed it back to her, telling her, "Well something that important must be kept safe." The girl nodded in agreement and stuffed it back into the bag, before zipping it shut.

The frog Monster gave her hair a small tousle, telling the girl, "You should go say hi to other Monsters, they very happy to meet you too!"

The girl nodded and took off to speak with each of the Monsters and pester them with a million questions, none of which they minded. Buff Frog watched her go, before walking over to his son and wrapping him up into a tight, but not crushing hug. "Marco, my boy, so good to see you!"

"Hey dad!" Marco replied, equally cheerful, the smile on his face so wide it was stretching out his cheek mark, which spun in a lazy circle. "I'm really excited about today!"

Buff Frog laughed. "Me too!"

"Thanks for letting the girls come, I hope you don't mind." Marco's voice had a sheepish undertone, even though they had discussed this already, he still felt uncomfortable for whatever reason for even asking the frog such a request.

But his dad was quick to shoot down any worries, as he said in a happy tone, "Of course not, Marco! They family to you, they family to us!"

The moment the Monster pulled away, he noticed the other little girl hiding behind his son, who stared up at him with fearful eyes. The second he caught her eye, she looked away burying her face into the back of Marco's hood.

"Who this little one?" Buff Frog asked, making sure to keep his voice light, so as to not scare her.

Marco put a hand on her head, telling his dad, "This is Daisy."

"She's a bit... nervous about being around Monsters," Star explained hesitantly, doing her best not to upset Buff Frog.

The Monster leader smiled grimly, before turning back to the girl and saying in a soft, warm tone, "Hello, little one, no need be afraid, I won't hurt you."

The girl didn't respond, so Star added in an equally calm voice, "Daisy, this is Marco's dad. He raised him and he is super nice."

The girl raised her head up enough so that she was face to face with Buff Frog again and she softly muttered, "Hi." Her eyes grew wide with fear, before she added in a terrified stutter, "P-Please don't eat m-me." Her hand clenched the boy's pant leg even tighter, as her eyes drifted to her feet.

Father and son shared a sad look with each other, before Marco said, "Daisy he's not going to eat you, I promise. Just come out and say hello." He put an encouraging hand on her back and she stiffened. But after a few seconds, she finally moved away from the protection of the boy, walking slowly toward the Monster, who remained still so he wouldn't frighten her anymore. She looked back at Star and Marco once in an almost pleading gaze, before staring at the Monster in front of her, nervously rubbing a foot on the ground.

"Marco tells me you like tea," Buff Frog said and the girl nodded slowly in reply. "Would like me make you some?" he asked and the girl's eyes brightened for a second.

"You like tea," she said.

Buff Frog nodded, "Oh yes, when I little like you, Marco's mom used to make me tea all the time." The girl gave him a curious look, even as he held out his claw in offering. "So would you like try Monster made tea?"

"Is it... poisoned," the girl asked worriedly.

Buff Frog chuckled and shook his head. "No, is not, I made sure," he gave her a small wink and the girl finally grinned, it was hesitant and the mistrust was still written on her face, but it was definitely a start. Star and Marco, both shared victorious grins with each other, their plan working better than they had hoped and they squeezed each others hands in joy. But it quickly turned into a loving gaze, as they grew lost in their partner's stunning orbs, feeling a familiar heartbeat for a moment inside their chest.

Daisy took Buff Frog's claw and the Monster finally stood, starting to lead her toward the house. But he froze and nearly slapped a hand to his forehead as he suddenly remembered the surprise. "Oh nearly forgot!" he shouted, making the peach-haired girl look up at him curiously and a little fearfully. He turned back in the direction of his son, shouting, "Marco!"

Marco tore his gaze reluctantly away from his girlfriend, their cheeks painted pink, taking in the excited looks on his dad's face. "What?" he asked in confusion.

"Wanted to show you surprise!" Buff Frog said, before pointing to the house behind him and Marco finally took the thing in for the first time since arriving. The other Monsters turned at that, Bearicorn breaking off his conversation with Violet, who was asking question after question about the Monsters horn, wondering if he was somehow part unicorn, a mystery that went unsolved for the moment.

"Surprise Marco!" they all shouted, too late, but the hooded teen's bright smile was still there as he took in the fully constructed home in joy. It was a large two story home that looked like it had at least five bedrooms, maybe more, which made sense since many of the Monsters would be coming and going from there. The walls were a soft brown with white trimming and a red roof. The time and detail that they had surly put into its construction showed, the whole thing looking professionally built and Marco was sure his real dad couldn't have done a better job. But the thing that brought tears to his eyes was the large red sun engraved above the door frame, an exact replica to his cheek marks, as well as the plaque that read 'In memory of the Diaz Family'.

"You guys," Marco squeaked out, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. "It looks perfect!"

"Glad you like it," Beard Deer said, giving him a soft smile and going over to put an arm around his shoulders.

"Wait till you see the inside," Lobster Claws said, excitedly as the two teens were led over to the entrance of the house, surrounded on all sides by the eager and chattering Monsters. Buff Frog and Daisy were in the lead, the little girl turning to her sister and shouting, "Violet, it turns out Monster's like tea just like I do and Marco's dad is going to let me try some, isn't that awesome!" Buff Frog hid his smile from the girl, keeping his eyes staring forward.

Violet got a jealous look on her face, as she whined, "What? I want to try some, too."

"But you hate tea," Daisy reminded her.

Violet scoffed and snapped, "Yeah but not _Monster_ tea!"

"Well Mr. Buff Frog didn't ask you, so there?" Daisy shot back, sticking her tongue out at her sister, causing her to groan in anger.

Buff Frog with all the levelheadedness of a veteran parent merely stated, "Now, now children. No need to fight, is plenty for both of you." This instantly stilled the girl's fast approaching argument as they both just shared a look. "Now why don't you two run inside and pick out cup you want?" he subtly hinted and the girl's instantly obeyed, running inside and giggling away, Buff Frog and the others watching them go.

"How did you do that, Buff Frog?" Marco asked in disbelief.

Marco's dad turned to him with a large, loving grin as he said, "You forget I raised you. I have fair share of fussy kids and how best deal with them."

…

A few minutes later, the group was seated at the large kitchen table, Buff Frog pouring each of them a cup of tea from the teapot in his claws. Daisy and Violet wasted no time, the moment their cups were filled they both took a giant gulp, before spitting the stuff back out and whining about their burning tongues.

"I warned you was hot," Buff Frog chuckled.

The other Monsters meanwhile were looking down at their own cups in confusion, Lobster Claws remarking, "We didn't know you knew how to do stuff like this boss."

"Yes, well, many things I keep hidden from you all over years," Buff Frog replied, pouring the tea into Star's cup, who thanked him gratefully.

He then stepped over to his son and poured him a glass. Marco looked down at the browish, almost caramel colored liquid before asking, "You said mom used to make this?"

Buff Frog nodded, before taking his seat next to his child. "Oh yes, this is her special recipe. Hopefully I got it right, been long time since last made it."

Marco watched the steam steadily rise off of his cup, feeling his chest clench in sadness. He wished his mom could have made this for him herself, picturing her giving him a kiss on the head as she handed him his cup. He swallowed down the lump in his throat as he lifted the drink to his lips and allowed it to flow down his throat. As he did, he imagined that this was somehow a gift from her, yet another small piece of his family, a reminder that a part of them was still there and he treasured every sip. But as his taste buds activated, he let out a moan of delight, realizing that this stuff was quite delicious as well as important.

Once he lowered the cup back to the table, he was licking his lips, savoring the sweet drink as much as he could. The others seemed impressed as well, Star even commenting, "Wow, that's really good!" Even Daisy and Violet were gulping it down like there was no tomorrow, Daisy with of course her pinkie raised. They finished at nearly the same time, both letting out a satisfied sigh, before thrusting their cups toward Buff Frog again, asking nicely and with varying levels of excitement and eagerness, "More please!"

"Slow down you too, you don't want to ruin your appetite before lunch," Star said and the two groaned in annoyance.

"Another cup won't hurt," Buff Frog said, pouring them each another full glass and Star just smiled and shook her head. "Now make sure not to swallow too fast, could give stomach ache," he added and the two nodded quickly.

"Thank you, Buff Frog!" Violet said, while Daisy just gave a hesitant nod. They both began drinking the substance again, though a bit slower this time.

Buff Frog smiled before turning to his own child, who's head was lowered to the table so he couldn't see his face, asking him, "So Marco what do you think of drink?"

He frowned as Marco didn't answer right away, keeping his eyes trained on his half-empty cup, and he felt concern clench his chest. The amphibian put a hand on the boy's back, asking worriedly, "Marco?"

The boy sniffed, wiping his nose with his shirt sleeve as he finally replied in a strained, tear-soaked voice, "It's delicious."

Buff Frog smiled sadly, knowing exactly what was upsetting the boy, as he moved his arm around his small frame and pulled him to his side, saying softly, "Would you like some more?"

Marco nodded and finally caught his eye, which were shimmering with small unshed tears, but the smile on his face was genuine as he held the cup out for him.

Daisy and Violet looked over at Star with troubled frowns, Daisy asking, "What's wrong with Big Brother?"

"He just misses his parents a lot," Star explained softly and the two shared a look, not understanding, but they stayed quiet as they watched the hooded teen drink the rest of his tea, his father holding him close as he did.

Once the boy was finished he set his cup down and cleared his throat, before asking, "So uh, do you guys have any plans for today?"

The Monsters all seemed unsure at the unexpected question, Boo Fly commenting, "Juzzzt zzpend time with you."

Marco nodded before saying, "Right, right. I know but like how do you feel about... maybe going somewhere." He tried to keep his voice calm, but the excited undertone was easily picked up by the Monsters.

Still they all played along as Buff Frog asked, "Do you have idea, Marco?"

"Welll..." he said as modestly as he could, reaching into the backpack by his side. "Star and I may have come up with an idea or two." He pulled out a rolled up paper, setting it out on the table, as it unwound, covering the entire length of the table and the Monsters all stared at it in shock. The hooded teen seeing their faces, felt a blush light up his cheeks, as he admitted hesitantly, "I guess maybe I got a little carried away."

"No, no, just surprise us is all," Buff Frog quickly said, reading a few things off the list. "Is lot, though, might have to narrow down some."

"Trust me this was actually the short list," Star told them all, before smiling over at her boyfriend, who was twiddling his fingers.

"Well, I mean, I just wanted to get a chance to explore Mewni more thoroughly. I have lived here my whole life, but I don't feel like I actually know all that much about it." None of them, mentioned the reason for this, the unspoken resentment toward the lizard who had practically imprisoned Marco entering all of their minds. "And I thought maybe checking out a few places would be a fun bonding kind of thing." Marco shrugged and the Monsters all smiled at their youngest.

"Sounds like good plan to me," Buff Frog said, giving his son's arm a squeeze. He looked over at his minions and friends, asking them, "How do you all feel about trip?"

They all either nodded or shrugged in agreement, Spike Balls adding, in a pleasant tone, "Anytime with Marco is a good idea to us."

The hooded teen blushed and pulled his hood up over his eyes, to hide his pink cheeks. "You guys," he whined in embarrassment. Star reached over and put a hand on his, drawing his eyes to her, as she told him, "See I told you they would say yes."

"Yeah, you were right, Star," Marco agreed and Star leaned closer, pulling his hood back so she could stare into his eyes easier. "And how about my reward for being right?" she asked with a playful smirk, making the boy's heart nearly stop beating it was pounding so erratically. Ignoring the anticipating stares of his family and the twins, he gave her the wanted kiss she was demanding, the girl putting a hand to his cheek as she let it deepen, keeping him trapped there as she tasted every inch of his lips and he happily complied, allowing her to lead the kiss. The whole time this was going on, Buff Frog and the other Monsters were smiling like crazy and trying not to gush over how cute their child and his girlfriend were as a couple, just watching them with silent smiles.

Daisy and Violet, however, had no sense of self-control for such things, as they sprang forward, over the table and tackled the hooded boy in a tight hug, making him break out of his kiss to let out a startled yelp. They nearly knocked him off his chair, but he managed to hold his balance, as he held the two giggling girls to his chest, his brain still fuzzy and his lips still tingling from the kiss. "Big brother, when are you two gonna get married already?!" Violet asked, squeezing his cheeks with her hands.

"Yeah and can I be one of the flower girl at your wedding?" Daisy requested making Violet turn to her with a glare.

"No way, I want to be the flower girl!" Violet demanded childishly.

"You hate flowers!" Daisy shot back.

"Well instead of flowers maybe I could use glass eyeballs or something," Violet mumbled bitterly.

"Ew, Violet! That's gross!" Daisy gagged, which only made her sister even more angry.

"You're gross!"

"Girls, no arguing or we take you straight home," Star reminded them in a chiding tone and the two turned to her with wide eyes, both of their mouths snapping shut. Though they still shot each other the occasional glare when they thought she wasn't looking.

"Now then, back to your trip," Buff Frog interrupted, drawing the attention back to him. "Where you planning on us going, my son?"

Marco got a thoughtful expression, before he said, "Well, I'll be honest, I haven't decided yet. I have a lot of ideas, as you can tell..." he sheepishly gestured to the list. "But I don't think we'll have time to do them all."

"May I make suggestion then?" Buff Frog asked and Marco nodded, smiling eagerly.

"Sure thing, dad," he replied.

"My idea is place won't find on any map," he said mysteriously and the boy's face lit up in anticipation.

"Really?" Marco breathed in wonderment.

"Oh yes, is only known by select few Monsters and I happen be one," Buff Frog replied.

"Can you take us there?" Marco asked, his eyes begging and his frog father chuckled.

"Yes, I can," he replied jovially.

…

The group of Mewmans and Monsters exited out of the portal, their mouths all gaped open at the beautiful clearing surrounding them. It was a great big open area surrounded and hidden from prying eyes by a thick wall of vegetation and/or cliffs. There was a waterfall there, which was oddly falling up and as they observed closer it seemed many things there were not harbored by the force of gravity. There were several flowers that floated in the air, instead of the ground, hovering there and glowing a soft white. The sight was one to behold, the sun hitting the water just right making a rainbow spray across their vision and the grass was all a pale blue, compared to the normal pink or green. In the river that flowed around the area, Marco could make out several blue gators wadding through the water, much like the one he had met so long ago. There were no houses or any signs of outside forces ever even entering the place, in fact the area looked completely untouched by organic hands.

"Wow, Buff Frog, what is this place?" Marco asked, taking a few steps forward, only to feel himself go weightless as he rose up off the ground. Marco let out a yelp of surprise, his arms waving wildly as he tried to balance himself, his body now just a foot above the floor and he tried futility to get himself back down to the forest floor.

Buff Frog quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to the floor, Marco sighing in relief and putting a hand over his pounding heart. "Must be careful, my boy. Gravity doesn't work same here as in rest of Mewni."

"I'll remember that," Marco replied, swallowing hard. Daisy and Violet on the other hand were cheering and clapping at what they had just witnessed, saying, "Oh wow, Big Brother flew!" or "Do it again, Big Brother!"

"Maybe later," Marco told them, still having trouble speaking around the heart in his throat.

"I've never seen a place like this anywhere on Mewni before," Star commented looking around the area in bewildered awe. "I didn't even know something like this could exist in this dimension."

"Yes, well, we Monsters discovered it first and chose to keep hidden from Mewmans, knowing they had tendency to take what was not theirs."

Star cringed at that. "Yeah, uh, sorry... about that," the blond royal apologized sheepishly.

"Is okay, that was ancestors not you," Buff Frog told her with a reassuring smile. He turned back to staring at the landscape, saying, "Place is called Gravity Falls, for obvious reasons." They all watched as a flower floated by their heads, spinning lazily.

"How come you never brought us here before, Buff Frog?" Lobster Claws asked, looking hurt.

"Because, as said before, only few Monster know about place," he explained, crossing his arms. "Less that know about it the better, at least that what my father said."

"You sure, it's okay for us to be here now, then?" Marco asked in concern.

Buff Frog nodded. "Positive. Few Monsters come here nowadays, is very safe and good place to relax."

"Can we go play?" Violet asked Star and Marco, bored of all the grown-up talking and itching to run around and explore.

"Sure," Marco said with a nod. "But just stay where we can see you, okay?"

"Okay," both girls replied, before racing off, Daisy looking much more comfortable and at ease now. They quickly started playing in the water scaring off the gators there, who put as much distance between the two girls as possible, before diving underwater. The Monsters quickly relaxed and lounged around, enjoying a day off without having to worry about fighting something or doing something, and finally able to just let go and do nothing for awhile, leaving Star and Marco relatively alone.

The young couple held hands, not sure what to do or say now, but more just enjoying the quiet moment together. "So, hey uh, do you... want to do something?" Marco asked, trying to fight the nervousness he was feeling. It was just Star after all, she was his bestie and girlfriend, there was no reason he should be nervous... at least he didn't think, he had only been on a couple of dates with her and was still not entirely sure what all dating entailed.

"Like what?" she asked patiently, her eyes shining brighter than a thousand diamonds and the words caught in Marco's throat.

He coughed, before saying, "I don't know, maybe like-"

Before he could finish his answer, there was a loud splash from the water and Star turned only to see the two girls now almost wrestling in the water and quickly raced over without a second thought to stop them from accidentally drowning one another. "Hey girls, stop that!" Star cried.

Marco felt disappointment bubble in his chest, but it didn't last long, after all they still had the whole day to hang out and today was really more about spending time with his dad and the rest of his family anyways.

And as if on cue, Marco suddenly felt something land on his shoulder and turned to see his dad smiling down at him. "So, my son, how is things with you?"

"Pretty good, actually," Marco said, sitting on a fairly comfortable rock (after testing it to make sure it was stationary of course). Buff Frog took the seat next to him. "Is good. How is relationship with Star? Are you two doing okay?"

Marco didn't even have to think about his answer. "Oh yeah, she's great! We're doing great! Actually the other day we went on a date to this 'Corn Festival' thing and it was awesome!" He quickly pulled out his phone to show his dad a few pictures the two had taken, Marco and Star in various poses together and with facial expressions ranging from a mere smile to goofy looks to outright kissing one another, thus capturing the moment for all time.

But as his phone switched to the last picture this one of the two of them, passed out on his bed his head nuzzled into her chest as his girlfriend held him in a protective hug, he quickly squeaked and tucked his phone away, hoping his dad wouldn't comment on it. "Janna," he muttered under his breath, knowing his creepy friend had to be responsible for that. It wouldn't be the first time she had stolen his phone to take a photo of the two when they didn't know she was there. Normally he didn't mind, but he didn't want to explain to his dad what had led up to that situation in the first place.

"What was that?" Buff Frog asked, a tiny bit of concern in his tone.

 _Oh boy._ "I, uh, had a nightmare," Marco replied simply, hoping his dad would drop the subject. He didn't want to talk about how ever since the Toffee incident he would occasionally have a nightmare where he was being strangled all over again or taken far away from his family and Star where no one would find him. Or more recently, he was forced to watch as Toffee disposed of everyone he loved right in front of him while he was powerless to stop him. It was why he didn't mind that the twins had begun making a habit out of sneaking into bed with him in the middle of the night, finding their presences comforting and he was able to sleep easier knowing someone else was there. Though that didn't help when his nightmares would come back to him during the day, when he was wide awake, because they felt so much more real then and would always throw his mind into a frenzy and his body into panic.

But his dad didn't pester him with questions or even ask what the nightmare had been about, only staring at him for a long moment before saying, "It happens." Marco was thankful as he quickly moved on and dropped the subject moving on to a more lighthearted subject as he began telling Marco all about how he used to come to this place as a kid with his father and how special and important it was to him.

Marco listened closely, but allowed his eyes to stray to the water, watching as Daisy, Violet, and now even Star joined in on taking turns soaking one another, albeit now under Star's watchful eye, not letting it ever get too far out of hand as to raise any concern. He admired his girlfriend, as she laughed and played along with the two girls, laughing like she didn't have a care in the world. He liked seeing her like this, so relaxed and at ease, and he was enchanted with her every movement, of every way the light danced off her hair. He nearly laughed out loud as she lifted Daisy up and dipped her waste deep in the water, while the small royal screamed and kicked in joy. The boy felt a familiar heartbeat flicker in his chest and suddenly, Star looked over at him, her sky blue eyes conveying to him that she had felt it too. The two shared a smile, before he directed his full attention back to his dad.

Buff Frog carried on and on with his tales, filled with joy but at the same time was deep in thought. He knew Marco was keeping something from him, that there was something on his mind he wasn't telling him and that troubled Buff Frog deeply. His son was generally a very open boy and he had always been honest with him about nearly everything, sure there was the occasional lie growing up, telling him he had eaten all of his vegetables when there was still plenty on his plate, stuff like that, but overall nothing to this level. The worse he could think of was when he had snuck out of the castle against Toffee's wishes, but that had been more of to protect himself from Toffee's wrath than anything else.

But if Marco was having nightmare and seemed blatantly uncomfortable talking about it, then Buff Frog knew something was bothering him. Something that (with him at least) Marco seemed closed off about. And that wasn't the only example. He had picked up on several little conversations with his son that Marco was doing his best to hide something and as much as he wanted to pry it out of him, he also knew that that would do no good. Maybe he could speak about it with Star later, for now, he'd rather enjoy some quality time with his son and so to make sure that very thing happened he forced the thoughts out of his head.

The rest of the Monsters seemed to be enjoying themselves too, all finding something to keep them entertained while they were there. Big Chicken was pecking at the grass looking for seeds or bugs to chomp on. Bearicorn was climbing up a tree in an attempt to score some honey from a beehive. The two-headed brothers were in an intense argument about if a house would float out there. Boo Fly was sleeping, his small body suspended in mid-air as he relaxed and enjoyed being able to feel weightless without flapping his wings. Lobster Claws and Potato Baby were busy testing out the gravity streams, taking turns watching various things they could find float in fascination, and as Beard Deer walked by, he gave Lobster Claws a massive shove, which caused the crustacean to float in the air, his arms waving wildly as he screamed over the lack of balance, all while Potato Baby let a garbled laugh. The rest were all either napping in the sun or just laying back in the grass and doing nothing.

After a while, Star called out to her bestie, drawing his and Buff Frog's attention to the water, "Hey Marco, come join us!"

"Yeah, Big Brother come and play!" Daisy shouted.

Marco looked over at his dad, who gave him a nod to let him know it was okay, before he ran over, ripping off his prized hoodie, before taking a dive toward the water. But gravity worked against him once again, as it instead kept him floating in the air for a few seconds, his form slowing drifting over the three girls heads, before dropping him unceremoniously into the water. The teen came up sputtering and gasping for breath, while he heard the familiar laughter of Star and the twins, who all found his slip up immensely humorous. "It's not that funny," Marco said and Star gave him an apologetic look inbetween gasps for breath.

"I'm... sorry Marco, but _y-your face_... it was j-just too funny!" She was laughing even harder now, looking like she was about to double over or pass out from lack of oxygen to her strained lungs.

Marco felt his face flush bright red, until an idea popped into his head, his cheeks spinning once in response. "Not as funny as yours," he said playfully and the girl stopped laughing and gave him a confused look. That's when Marco swiftly splashed a big bunch of water into the girl's face, making her let out a startled cry. The boy laughed at the girl's soaking wet hair and dripping bangs, as she merely frowned over at him, though the smile behind her eyes was obviously there. And it turned into a real one as she said, playfully, "Oh yeah so that's how you want it to be. Then bring it on, Diaz!"

Daisy and Violet quickly joined in, each helping to sabotage the two teens, with little splashes of their own, while Marco and Star got into a splash fight, laughing the whole time, as Star sought revenge on her boyfriend. Eventually, Marco threw in the towel though as Star began to mercilessly tickle his sides and he laughed and squirmed in her grip. "Ha ha, okay Star that's enough! Haha, Star you win already, hahahaha, stop it that tickles!"

The girl finally ceased her ferocious attack as she held the boy tightly in her arms, his body slightly dipped toward the water. She couldn't resist as she leaned closer and gave him a small kiss on the lips, which he returned wholeheartedly. But just as the two separated, there was a large splash the aftereffect hitting the two full force, along with a massive wave that nearly knocked the two off their feet. Daisy and Violet laughed as they had witnessed Spike Balls jumping into the water out of nowhere, giggling incessantly at their two babysitters soaked forms. "Just thought I'd join in on the fun," the Monster commented with a wide smile.

"Oh my turn!" Lobster Claws suddenly shouted. He ran toward the water before proclaiming, "Cannonball!" He then jumped in the water himself, using the lack of gravity to do a full flip before hitting the water and sending of shower of droplets on the others.

Several other Monsters joined in, diving into the water, making the four Mewmans laugh at the varying degrees of success. But Beard Deer hardly seemed impressed, watching the whole thing with a scowl, before finally shouting, "That's not how you cannon ball!"

"Oh yeah, well then why don't you try it?" Lobster Claws yelled from back at him.

Beard Deer got a smirk, as he backed up to show them a proper cannonball, but just as he jumped, he was affected by the gravity, as it made him instead do one spin in the air before face-planting directly into the water, causing the other Monsters to laugh. At this point, all the Monsters were in the river but Buff Frog, and Marco looked over at his dad, who was watching with a smile in the same spot he had left him.

"Hey dad, don't you want to swim, too?!" he yelled to him.

"Yeah, come on, boss! Live a little!" Lobster Claws shouted, Potato Baby giving an agreeing garble.

Buff Frog just shook his head, saying, "No, no. You have fun, I will sit out this time."

"Awww, come on!" Star encouraged. "Your a frog, after all, I bet your jump would put all the others to shame!"

"Yeah, dad, show me that patented Bulgoyabov dive, like in your story," Marco added, remembering his dad recounting the special technique his family had invented and been using for generations.

The amphibian seemed to consider this, before he stood up and started to walk away, much to everyone's surprise. "Boss?" some of the Monsters asked, while Marco just smiled to himself. The frog suddenly turned and began racing back toward the river, getting a running start before he leapt into the air. Everyone watched in awe as his muscular form rose above the very treetops and with the added lack of gravity, he seemed to go even higher than some clouds. And as he descended, he did a complicated series of spins and somersaults, before finally hitting the water, crashing into it like a torpedo. There was a gigantic wave, that sent every Monster barreling over and Marco, who had been fully aware what was about to happen, had grabbed Daisy and Violet and pulled them as far back as he could. Star followed uncertainly, but it switched to understanding as the tidal wave barreled through the unexpected Monsters, only to lose its height and momentum the further it traveled, hitting the Mewmans with only a mild, barely above their knees, current.

Buff Frog emerged from the water, grinning victoriously, as all the Monsters recovered from the unexpected hit. There was a few seconds of silence, before Lobster Claws exclaimed, "That was amazing!" Soon after this declaration all the Monsters were congratulating their boss, patting him on the back or shaking his claw and while the four Mewmans just watched and laughed. "You family is so fun, big brother!" Violet screamed and Marco smiled thoughtfully, nodding slowly.

"Yeah they are," Marco said softly, his voice chocked with emotion. He couldn't think of a time when he had ever seen them acting so goofy or lighthearted, most of the time growing up they had seemed stressed and anxious and sometimes Marco wasn't sure if they could even stand each other. But now they looked like a real family, getting along and just enjoying each others company, and it made Marco's heart soar to see such a sight. And seeing them all so happy and carefree, made him realize something. While he had recently begun experiencing true freedom for himself, the others now seemed to have finally gotten the chance to do the same. And this only served to remind him of just how much he loved his dad and the Monsters, they all had sacrificed so much to keep him safe for all those years, and now at last they were able to be rewarded for their efforts.

Marco, after some prompting from Star, was able to snap out of his thoughts and go over to join the Monsters, Daisy and Violet following right behind. Once they met up, a series of games fast broke out, including more splash fighting, chicken fight, a game the Monsters called sharks and mermaids, and marco polo, which Marco enjoyed immensely. This went on until late into the afternoon, the sun peeking and then lowering quite a ways before anyone even took notice of how much time had passed, too invested in the fun they were all having. Marco, especially, seemed to be enjoying his time bonding with his family and girlfriend, smiling ear to ear to the point his cheeks began hurting, but he didn't care and refused to let it up for even a single second.

But he wasn't the only one obviously having the time of his life, the twins too seemed equally enthusiastic about the time spent, even little Daisy's fear all but forgotten as she played with the Monsters with equal fervor as her twin. And soon, she seemed right at home and at ease around them, giggling incessantly over every little thing. In fact, by this point you couldn't even tell that she had ever been frightened of the Monsters to begin with and this made Marco's already stretched smile widen even more.

By the time they did finally break off for lunch, they were all beyond sore and tired, but happy, as they slowly trudged to shore to get some much needed and well-deserved rest, dragging their pruny bodies out of the water with much force, some more than others.

They all stretched out in the soft grass, relaxing and catching their breath as they waited to dry off in the sun. Daisy and Violet lay side by side, both shivering slightly as Marco walked over to them with their lunches and his in hand. They both took their food gratefully and with bright eagerness over the first bit of food since breakfast, both working up quite the appetite over the last several hours. It was nothing fancy, just sandwiches that he had made before their trip but as the two starving girls each took a bite, it seemed like they had just been given fine gourmet the way they were humming in appreciation and delight.

"This is so good, Big Brother!" Daisy proclaimed, before quickly chomping at least a quarter of it off and chewing greedily.

"Yeah, it's really tasty!" Violet mumbled out, struggling to form coherent words with her mouth stuffed to the very max it could hold at one time without choking her.

"I'm glad you like it," Marco said cheerfully, before rising up and going over to join Star, who was already half-done with her own sandwich. "Mmmm, Marco what is on this? It's amazing!" Star complimented him, taking a big bite.

"Umm, let's see," Marco said thoughtfully, as he sat by Star's side. He counted off each ingredient used as he went, "Basically whatever I could find, like avocados, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mustard, ketchup, chick-" Marco quickly cut himself off, his head whipping around to stare panic-stricken at Big Chicken, who's head was raised in alert. Marco nervously cleared his throat, before correcting himself and saying, "Um, you know, various things."

This seemed to settle Big Chicken, who went back to pecking at the seeds in front of him. "Right, gotcha," Star replied, as she held back a chuckle. She watched the boy take an eager bite of his own sandwich, hanging on his every move, before asking, "So do you wanna switch?"

Marco turned to her in surprise, his mouth still comically stuffed, as he asked, "Wha?"

Star laughed at her boyfriend's cuteness, before explaining, "You can have some of my sandwich and I can have some of yours."

Marco swallowed, giving her a look of naive curiosity. "Why would we do that?" he asked. "I mean they're exactly the same, right." He raked his brain trying to think of if he did anything special to any of the sandwiches, but he had been very careful to make them all the exact same way so as to not hurt anyone's feelings over being left out.

Star shrugged, her fingers shyly fiddling with the bread, picking off small crumbs and throwing it into the grass. "It's just something couples like to do. But if you don't want to I-"

"No, no, I do!" Marco quickly agreed, practically shouting into her face and waving a hand in front of him to reassure her. He hated to see Star upset and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings, especially over something as trivial as this. "I just was confused it all," he added with a sheepish chuckled, nervously scratching his cheek.

Star smiled at him, grabbing his arm and cuddling him close to her. "It's okay, Marco. I get it," Star told him, before planting a kiss on his cheek. "I just felt weird about it for a second is all, cause I realized how dumb it sounded."

"Nothing you say is dumb," Marco told her, so much honesty and certainty in his tone that Star realized that he truly believed what he said, that to him anything she said was important and that was just a hard fact of life. Which just made Star's heart melt even more and caused her to gush over her adorably sweet boyfriend. "Awww, Marco, you spoil me," she swooned, squeezing his arm tight as she nuzzled his cheek with hers, making the both of their faces light up red.

Marco didn't say anything, just giving a little embarrassed chuckle, enjoying every second of contact with his awesome bestie as his brain turned to mush. But he was able to successfully snap back to reality as Star held her sandwich up to his lips and he eagerly took a bite, before doing the same for her. The two chewed their partner's lunch for a moment, feeling safe and secure in each other's arms. And though Marco didn't know how it was possible, he could swear that somehow Star's bite of sandwich was far better than his own, as if being in the blond's hands infused it with some sort of added flavor that only improved its overall taste. Then again, it shouldn't surprise him, everything Star touched turned to gold. She was just so special and amazing he sometimes couldn't believe he was been lucky enough to have her in his life. Since he met her, she had done nothing but brighten up his life in ways he never could have imagined. Before Star the only joy in his life was the bits of time he spent with his dad and the Monsters, everything else was just boredom and guilt and longing. Now though, his life felt like a fairytale or some beautiful dream that he prayed he never woke up from. Sure there were tough times, but they were worth it if he could stay by his Star's side.

Marco must have been staring at her funny, because she suddenly asked, "What?" The hooded teen slowly shook his head. "Just... thinking," he said, his voice cracking slightly as he chocked on the lump in his throat.

"About what?" Star asked, raising a curious, teasing eyebrow.

"How much better my life is since I met you," he explained and Star's eyes widened.

A bright, shy smile lit up her face and her hearts thumped a few times on her blushing cheeks. "What brought that up?" she asked.

"Just being near you, I guess. Spending time with you always makes me feel grateful that we met."

Star smiled and leaned once again into his arm. "Yeah, me too."

The two stayed like that for a moment or two, before they heard a shuffling behind them and they turned to see Buff Frog standing over them, looking slightly guilty. "Sorry to interrupt moment," he began looking genuinely apologetic. "But need to talk to you two about something."

Star and Marco shared a surprised look, before Marco spoke up, telling his dad, "Uh, sure thing, Buff Frog. What's going on?"

The amphibian sat down on a rock beside them, his gaze hardening some and causing the two's heart rate to increase mildly. He crossed his arms, his stance powerful but concerned, his yellow eyes digging into their skin, trying to pry something out of them with the look alone. The two admittedly squirmed under his intense gaze, now worried what he was about to question them on. "I know you two hiding something from me."

The two both gasped at that, too startled to hide their guilty faces as Marco bit his lip and avoided his dad's gaze and Star just sucked in a breath. Buff Frog watched both of their reactions closely, waiting for them to speak and try to defend themselves. But neither said a word and eventually Buff Frog figured it was best to continue. "I see it in your eyes. I want to know what problem is."

The two shared a hesitant look, neither sure what to say and a thought suddenly struck Buff Frog. The two were really close with one another, sharing a lot of time alone and away from his watchful eye, they had been dating for at least three months now, and Marco had freaked out over a photo of the two snuggling in bed together...

His eyes slowly lowered to Star's stomach, but he quickly shook these foolish thoughts away. There was no way that was what was happening, from what he had seen their relationship was sweet and innocent, he had no reason to suspect them of something like _that_. Still, there was something wrong and he was going to find out what. "Please tell me so that I may help you. I worry about you, Marco," he said, his eyes begging and his son finally caught his eye, before quickly turning away the look too much for him to take.

"That's exactly why I don't want to tell you," Marco said, rubbing a hand on his arm. "I don't want to worry you anymore than you already do."

Buff Frog let out a sigh. "I know, my son, but keeping hidden from me, make me worry just as much."

Star and Marco shared a look, trying to silently decide on their next course of action. One of the big reasons the two had been opposed to it was out of fear that maybe if Buff Frog was to know the danger surrounding Star he might decide to move Marco back in with him until the threat passed. And even though this seemed unlikely, the chance was still there and it was enough to chill them to the bone, neither wanting to imagine a life without their chosen match by their side. And so, as brown and blue met, a single thought ran through both of their minds, _What do we tell him?_

Meanwhile, Violet was quickly growing bored just laying there. She had already finished her lunch and she wanted to go back to doing stuff, particularly with the Monsters. She looked over to see Star and Marco in some kind of conversation with Buff Frog and then to where the rest of the Monsters were resting. She rose to her feet, which caught her twin's attention. "Where are you going?" Daisy asked curiously.

"To talk to the Monsters, want to come." Violet looked ecstatic, a bright grin on her face as she waited for her sister's answer.

Daisy studied the group of Monsters for a few moments, trying to decide. Sure they hadn't done anything bad to her at this point but she still felt unsure about them, all the stories she had overheard from the adults making her fearful. Both her and Violet had eavesdropped on several conversations regarding the Monsters and, while her sister had only seemed to grow more and more interested, Daisy was scared stiff. The way the grownups talked about the Monsters killing people and burning down entire villages, had left her with nightmares for weeks. Her mother had done her best to comfort her, (not before reprimanding them both for listening in where they shouldn't have, of course) telling Daisy that no Monster could get to them from where they were and that she was safe, but her overactive imagination said otherwise. And having a sister who was obsessed with them didn't help much either. Violet would mercilessly tease her and tell her scary stories about the Monsters eating children whole or making them into stew, not realizing just how much it was messing her sister up.

But the worst of all of it was the day that her Trait had worked against her, as when Violet was telling another one of her particularly nasty stories to an unwilling Daisy, their cheek marks had activated, glowing white, and the Monster from Violet's description had come to life and appeared in their room. It was a large Monster made of nothing but fur and glowing red eyes. According to Violet it would tickle its victims for hours before eating them. The girl screamed and hid behind her sister, her whole body shaking, as she begged the Monster to leave her alone. Until finally, Violet told her that the Monster was gone and she opened her eyes to see it had disappeared, her twin apparently making it stop after she realized how much it was troubling her sister.

A moment later, the door had busted open and as several guards came in to check on the two young monarchs, hearing the girl's scream, Daisy, had simply jumped up, pushing past the guards, and ran down the hallways without a word, tears of embarrassment and fear streaming down her face. After that, Violet didn't tease her anymore about the Monsters and the guards were extremely careful to watch what they said around the young, impressionable royal.

But then, things had changed all of a sudden, as the adults began saying that the Monsters were good now and that they were no longer hurting anyone anymore. This had confused Daisy, sending her mind into a whirlwind of questions and doubt that left her paralyzed with uncertainty. All her life she had been told that Monsters were bad and that you should stay away from them and avoid them at all costs, but now she was just supposed to forget all of that and trust them. She didn't know what to do, her mind at a crossroads, as she struggled through her paranoid filled upbringing and the new-found evidence that there was no longer anything to fear.

Finally she shook her head, her brain still feeling heavy with doubt and uncertainty, as she said, "No, I'm okay."

Violet scoffed, clearly annoyed with the response, as she rolled her eyes. "Baby," she said tauntingly and this ignited a fire in little Daisy's chest.

"I am not a baby!" Daisy huffily shouted, stomping a foot down in anger. She couldn't believe her sister was accusing her of something like that, especially since she was only like this cause of her. She was so filled with rage and consumed by her venomous thoughts, that she didn't even hear the crack beneath her feet.

"Yes you are," Violet mocked back, pointing an accusing finger at her twin. "Your too afraid to even go near the Monsters, even though mom and Big Brother told us they are safe."

"But what about all those stories we used to hear, remember that Violet?" Daisy argued. "The adults said that Monsters were scary and dangerous."

Violet shrugged. "Well we've been around them all day and they haven't acted scary or dangerous," the creepy girl pointed out and Daisy's comeback froze on her tongue. She didn't know what to say to that, her twin was right after all, the Monsters actually seemed kind and gentle and Marco did seem to trust them...

"Face it, Daisy," Violet continued, speaking as if she was stating a fact. "Your only afraid of them cause your a baby."

Daisy lost her train of thought, as anger burst through her chest again and she screamed out in a fiery roar, "I. am. NOT!" She stomped her foot down even harder this time, only this time the cracking that followed was even louder than last time and the girl looked down to see the ground beneath her had fractured, creating a small uneven circle around her form. Before either girl could say anything, the ground beneath Daisy sprang up from the ground, a chunk of Mewni raising up into the sky, carrying the screaming Mewman child with it.

The ear-splitting screech gained everyone's attention, Buff Frog and the teens conversation forgotten as they swerved around to see Daisy being carried away by the ground beneath her, the young one clinging to the grass in fear. "Daisy!" Star and Marco shouted at the same time, terror and alarm written all over their stunned faces. The two began running over to where Violet stood numbly, watching her sister helplessly floating away, her eyes wet with unshed tears. "Marco get Violet!" Star shouted, afraid that her other cousin might float away if she wasn't protected. Marco quickly scooped the girl up and held her close to his chest, as he watched his girlfriend shout at the top of her lungs, "Raspberry Ribbon Lasso!" A tangle of sparkling red rope shout out of her wand, wrapping around the chunk of rock and holding it in place.

The Monsters quickly circled around the Mewmans, feeling helpless as they watched Star's rescue attempt, wanting to do something to help. "Help, someone help me!" Daisy cried, her eyes sealed shut and her whole body shaking in fear, as tears streamed down her face

"Hold on, Daisy, I got you!" Star tried to reassure her, hoping the quiver in her voice didn't end up making the girl even more afraid. Boo Fly, as well, did his part, as he quickly flew up to the girl and snuggled into her side, trying to comfort her however he could. "Don't you worry Mizzz Daizzy. Zztar will have you down in no time," the fly Monster said, running a paw through her cream-colored hair but the girl didn't respond, too petrified to speak.

But Star was at a loss of what to do next, the blond royal quickly racking her brain for a way to get the girl down without hurting her. But suddenly Buff Frog appeared behind her out of nowhere, saying in a deadly calm voice, "Keep her still, I get her down."

Before the girl could respond, Buff Frog jumped high into the air, sailing over everyone's heads as he expertly landed on the floating rock, Star somehow barely feeling any extra weight from it, much to her incredulousness. Buff Frog let out a long, soothing shush, putting both claws gently on her shoulders Boo Fly flying away from the girl to let his leader handle the situation. "Shhhh, is alright, little one. You be okay." The girl flinched, clearly recognizing his voice, her body tensing up, but the amphibian moved slowly, as he gently pulled her up, so she was now sitting on her knees. Her hands instinctively shot out and grabbed onto his beefy arms, taking comfort in his strength, paranoid she would fall without something to cling to. He continued his soft cooing, as he lifted her up and brought her into his arms. The girl instantly threw her arms around his neck, holding him in a tight hug as she buried her face into his shoulder with a small whimper. "Shhh, is alright. You safe now," Buff Frog said, running a claw through her hair to calm her. He looked down, ignoring the disbelieving looks from his minions as he quickly sized up the distance. He sucked in a breath, this was going to be the tricky part, he would have to jump in order to get down, but that would obviously panic the poor child even more, her already rapid heartbeat causing him to ache.

"Come on dad, you got this," Marco whispered from the ground, his grip on Violet tightening some, while the creepy girl looked petrified with fear for her sister. Star was just doing all she could to keep the rock from floating any further away, fighting against the incredibly strong pull of gravity the entire time, her arms beginning to ache with the effort. But she felt a small shift in the magical lasso and her eyes widened in horror as she saw that the laws of nature had found a new way to get around her. The floating ground was beginning to break apart into smaller chunks and she watched as a large crack formed, cutting its way through the rock, following along the path her lasso was.

"Buff Frog!" Star screamed in warning.

But the Monster leader didn't have time to react as the rock suddenly snapped in half and continued its trek toward space, causing Buff Frog and Daisy to fall, now plummeting to the ground, the frog in no position to land safely, his body twisting this way and that as he free fell. Violet screamed in fear for her sister's life and Marco shouted in pure terror, "No!"

Star thought fast though, holding her wand out and casting loudly, "Mystic Safety Net!" A large net formed, held in the air by several sparkly butterflies, who pulled the net as taunt as it would go, easily catching the girl and frog in the thick tangle of ropes. They lowered the two slowly and carefully to the ground, before setting them and the net onto the ground. Marco let out a loud breath of relief, his first since witnessing his dad falling to his death.

Buff Frog sat up, before looking down at the girl clinging to his chest in fear, and saying softly, "You can let go, little one. We safe now." Daisy finally opened her eyes, looking around to see that they were on the ground once more and she released the frog from her death grip, allowing him to pick her up and set her back on her feet.

Violet seeing this, jumped out of Marco's arms and ran up to her still trembling sister, throwing her arms around her in a tight, affectionate hug. The peach-haired girl's eyes widened in surprise, her arms twitching at her side as if unsure if she should hug her sister back or not. But as she heard a sob escape her sister's throat, she did just that, giving her twin a small squeeze. Star walked over and joined in on the hug, thankful her two cousins were safe.

Buff Frog watched the three as he stood, caught off guard as a small form bumped into his chest and a warm body trapped him in its own tender embrace. He looked down to see his son hugging him close, Marco's eyes scrunched closed and the residual look of fear still clearly on his face. "I thought I was gonna lose you," the boy in red chocked out, his voice cracking as a single tear ran down his face.

"There, there," Buff Frog soothed, giving his beloved son a loving pat on the back. "I okay, thanks to Star."

Both Marco and Buff Frog turned to the blond teen, who pulled away from the twins to match their gaze, a smile on her face. "Well I couldn't just sit there and do nothing," she said with a modest shrug of her shoulders.

"Buff Frog!" a sudden outburst, drew everyone's attention to the other Monsters, who all ran over and tackled their leader to the ground. "We're so sorry we couldn't help you!" Bearicorn bawled, tears streaming down his face. "Please don't fire us and replace us with better Monsters!" the bear continued.

Buff Frog smiled at his companions as he rose to his feet, telling them all in an authoritative but gentle voice, "Is alright, my friends. Would never replace you. You best Monsters I know."

Potato Baby made a garbled questioning noise, which the amphibian was able to translate, nodding his head. "Da, besides, can't very well replace you. Think Marco would miss you too much."

The Monsters all turned to the teen, who smiled at them all. "Yep, he's right, I would," he said. "You're my family after all." They all let out a simultaneous _awww_ , some even growing teary eyed.

The next thing Marco knew he was being hugged from all angles by the many members of his Monster family who were all cooing or crying out their fondness for the boy. Star laughed seeing her boyfriend looking lost and dazed as he was being virtually squeezed to death by the Monsters, but making no efforts to stop them, though that could have been due to his inability to breathe at the moment. But her attention was drawn back to her spells, who were all staring at her eagerly, as one of the butterflies asked, "So is there anything else we can do for, princess?"

 _Even my spells have to feel the need to call me by my title_ , she thought to herself, while saying aloud, "No that will be all, thank you."

They all bowed formally, another saying, "No thank you, Your Highness. It is an honor to be able to help out a Butterfly." Then as suddenly as they had come, they vanished into thin air, leaving behind a few sparkles that drifted slowly to the ground. _I'll have to remember to call on them more often_ , she thought to herself. _After I have a talk with them about calling me by my name._

Daisy and Violet, meanwhile, were still stuck in their own hug, which was quickly becoming awkward, as the former tried to pull away but found her sibling refusing to break her hold. "Uhh, Violet, you can let go now," the peach-haired girl said.

"I'm sorry," the girl muttered, starling her twin.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I called you a baby," Violet sniffed. She knew her and her sister argued a lot, but she never imagined that it would nearly lead to such a horrible outcome. She had nearly lost her twin, her other half, all because she had been dumb and stupid and had to tease her over nothing. "I shouldn't have said those things, because of me you almost-"

"No, you were right," Daisy said, much to her sister's surprise.

"I was?" Violet asked in clear confusion.

The cutesy girl nodded. "I was afraid of the Monsters and I was being a baby about it. I was just so sure that they were bad that I didn't give them a chance."

Violet finally let go and pulled out of the hug, staring her sister straight in the eyes. "Soooo, does this mean your not mad at me?" she asked.

"No, I guess not," Daisy said, for some reason finding it hard to stay mad at her twin. Sure they fought a lot, but deep down she loved her twin and couldn't imagine being away from her. They needed each other in some strange way.

The two shared a short smile, before Daisy turned to Star and said, "Thank you, Star, for helping rescue me."

Star patted her young cousin lightly on the head saying, "I'm just glad your safe. But you know, I'm not the only one you should be thanking." The blond's eyes jumped to Buff Frog then back to her cousin, knowingly. Daisy nodded and slowly approached the frog Monster, who was watching his son with a grin.

When the girl reached him she gave him a small tug on his shirt to draw his attention and as the frog looked down at her, she began scraping a foot against the ground shyly, struggling to meet his eye. "Um, uh," the girl muttered, a blush beginning to stain her cheeks. "Th-Thank you, for saving me, Mr. Buff Frog."

The frog smiled and bent down so he was level with the child. "Please, just Buff Frog is fine. And you very welcome, little one."

Daisy got a pouting look on her face, her cheeks puffing up cutely, as she whined, "Stop calling me 'little one'. My name is Daisy so call me that, okay?"

Buff Frog paused a look of surprise and confusion on his face, before he laughed out loud, a long hearty chuckle that drew everyone's attention onto him and left them all questioning what was so funny. He gently drew the girl in for hug, giving her a soft pat on the back. "Of course. Forgive me," he said, unable to keep the smile off of his face. Children really were priceless sometimes. Although he loved Marco immensely and wouldn't change a thing about his precious son, he admitted a part of him missed taking care of a young kid, his time raising the young Marco challenging but fulfilling. Now that Marco was older and living with Star, a part of him missed how things used to be (the happy moments at least, he would give anything to go back and make it so that Marco never had to grow up under the lizard's iron rule) he had loved being a parent and looking after and raising his son were some of the greatest moments of his life, he just hadn't realized how greatly he was missing that until now.

"Um, Buff Frog, your kinda crushing me," Daisy's muffled voice managed to snap the frog out of his thoughts, as he pulled the girl away from his chest finally and stood back up to his full height. "My apologies. Bow then after scary ordeal, would you and sister like snack," he took the girl's hand, who just stared up at him with curious, eager eyes.

"Snack? But mommy didn't let us bring any candy," Daisy said.

"Ahh yes, but I know where stash of candy bars is hidden. I put it there when I your age," Buff Frog said with a wink.

The girl giggled and allowed him to lead her off in the direction of the hidden treat, the girl calling for her sister to come with, who wasted no time in joining them. Once Buff Frog had unearthed the treasure trove of candy and the two girls were happily chocking down candy bars as they leaned against the Monster's sides, Marco, who had finally escaped from the Monster's tight, clingy grasp, approached his father, saying sheepishly, "Um, hey, dad about what we talked about earlier-"

But Buff Frog quickly cut him off, shaking his head and declaring, "You don't have to tell me."

"R-Really?" Marco said in surprise.

"Da, I realize now I overreact. You not little kid anymore. You old enough to take care of self. Sometimes I just have trouble remembering that. Whatever problem you having, I know you and Star can handle, otherwise you tell me."

Marco nodded, letting out a long sigh. "Well I'm glad you feel that way, but..." Marco paused, looking over at Star for permission, who gave a small nod. "I-I don't think it's right to keep something like this hidden from you any longer. Have you... ever heard of a Monster named Rasticore?"

Buff Frog seemed surprised by this, but shook his head. "No, I haven't."

"Well... he's this assassin guy, who kinda... attacked me and Star at the Orphan's Ball," Marco said with a grimace.

The amphibian's eyes widened as he and all the other Monster exclaimed, "What?!"

Marco quickly waved his arms to try and calm them down. "No, no, we're both fine. It's okay."

"Wait?! I thought you said that guy was a tax collector?" Lobster Claws asked in confusion.

"And you believed him?" Beard Deer scoffed in anger.

"Well, yeah, they can be very scary you know," the crustacean argued, making several of the Monsters face-palm.

"Your an idiot," Bearicorn muttered.

"But anyways," Marco continued, after the interruption. "He got away and the King and Queen have been searching really hard to find him. But because it happened at the castle, we're having to keep it secret from everyone."

Buff Frog nodded his head thoughtfully, his eyebrows furrowed. "That is for best, people would blame all Monsters if know the truth," the amphibian agreed.

"That's what we were thinking," Star said, joining in on the conversation as she moved to her boyfriend's side. "The only problem is, we're having a real tough time finding him, because we have no way to track him."

Buff Frog was silent for a moment, clearly contemplating and both Star and Marco held their breath, holding each other's hands tight. Finally, after an agonizingly long time, the frog Monster responded, "I will ask around, see what I can find."

The couple's mouths dropped open in shock at that, sharing a quick look, before turning back to the frog. "Th-That's it," Marco managed to say.

"Da," Buff Frog said, giving them a puzzled expression.

"Your not... worried?" Marco asked hesitantly, giving his dad a grimace of concern.

"Of course I worried. Is my job as father to worry over you," Buff Frog said. "But... like I said before, I trust you to take care of self. And you have Star, you could be no safer with me than her."

Star blushed at that, but she added softly, "Well that's not entirely true. He's after me, not Marco, so it's my fault that he..." Star's voice trailed off, the hurt in her tone as clear as day.

Buff Frog closed his eyes, his arms crossed in thought, but when they opened again he said, "All the more reason for you two to stay together."

"Huh?" Star and Marco asked simultaneously. That was not the answer they were expecting.

"You two belong together," the frog explained. "You need each other, especially in times of trouble and doubt. I meant what said earlier, you can handle problem as long as you have each other. And if you do need my help, then I be there."

Marco gave his dad a loving, grateful smile, his voice chocked up, as he said, "Thanks, dad." He couldn't believe he had ever doubted his dad enough to even think that he would separate him and Star. His dad loved him and he knew exactly how much Star meant to him, how crucial it was to keep her in his life. He had let his paranoia blind him from the truth that was right in front of him.

"You know," Star spoke up, her voice light as she wrapped an arm around her bestie's shoulders. "Last time Rasticore showed up, apparently Marco managed to hold him off entirely on his own."

Buff Frog and the other Monsters stared at their youngest in equal mixes of disbelief and pride and Marco felt his face flushing wildly. "W-Well, that's not entirely true," Marco stuttered, tapping his fingers together shyly. "Kelly was there a-and Tom and Pony showed up and-"

"Come on, Marco, don't be so modest," Star cooed, holding the boy close to her in a loving embrace. "Kelly told me the whole story and she said you gave that lizard a run for his money."

"Well then, in that case, it seems I have nothing to worry about," Buff Frog said, giving his son a delighted smile, which caused Marco to grin.

There was a sniff off to the side and everyone turned to see Beard Deer with tears running down his face. "Why are you crying?" Man Arm asked, giving the Monster a funny look.

"This is the proudest moment of my life," Beard Deer whispered, before shouting, "My baby is growing up!"

"He'zz not even your baby," Boo Fly pointed out and the deer Monster quickly rumbled, "Shut up, just let me have this!" wiping the tears out of his eyes with his claws.

Daisy and Violet laughed at the sight of the full-grown, tough-looking Monster in tears and even Star and Marco couldn't help but share a smile.

Buff Frog stood, putting his hands on the two's shoulders, staring down at them with a warm demeanor. "Now then... I believe sun will set soon. Why don't you two go spend last hours of day together?"

Star and Marco shared a look, the temptation clearly there for the both of them. "Are you sure?" Star asked, not wanting to agree if Buff Frog wasn't 100% okay with it.

He nodded, "Da."

"But, I mean, we were supposed to spend the day together, we don't want to hurt your feelings," Marco said, rubbing a hand up and down his arm.

"And you spent plenty of time with me," Buff Frog said, giving his son's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "But I know you must be desperate for some time alone."

Star and Marco both nodded, eagerly. "We are," Star admitted with a deep longing.

"Then go enjoy selves. I watch girls until you get back."

Star and Marco didn't have to be told again, as they both ran off together, hands still entwined and wide smiles spread across their faces. Buff Frog watched them go, before going back over to sit with the girls, hoping the couple had a good time. Daisy and Violet looked up at the frog with curiosity. "Where are Big Brother and Star going?" Daisy asked.

"To spend time alone," Buff Frog told them simply.

"Well why can't they spend time alone with us," Violet asked, putting her hands on her hips and pouting.

"No, Violet they're going to kiss and stuff," Daisy explained to her sister and Violet got a mischievous grin on her face.

"We should follow them and record the whole thing," the creepy twin said, leaning closer to her sister.

"Yeah," Daisy agreed, her face reflecting her sister's perfectly.

But a tutting from Buff Frog drew their attention. "Will do no such thing," the frog said firmly. But his voice softened as he said, "How about we play game instead? Know many Monster games my father teach me."

The two girls shared an enthusiastic grin, before pumping their fists in the air and shouting, "Yeah! Playtime with Uncle Buff Frog!"

This caught the Monster off-guard, but he smiled and chuckled to himself at the nickname, inwardly his heart soaring with joy.

…

"Okay, so wait, which Aureole sign are you?" Marco asked.

"I told you a pig-goat," Star said once again, kicking her feet out over the ledge.

"Really?" Marco said cocking his head to the side. "That's just so strange."

"Why is it strange?" Star asked in confusion.

"Well because, your super pretty and cool and everything and those pig-goats are... super creepy." Marco shuddered against his will.

Star let out a snort. "Seriously? Your afraid of pig-goats."

"Well, yeah. I woke up with one in my room a while back and it was just staring at me with these big beady eyes. I thought it was going to eat me."

Now the blond royal full-on laughed at her adorable boyfriend, the hooded teen quickly joining in. _Could he get anymore precious?_ Star thought as she leaned her head against his shoulder and he reciprocated the embrace, laying his head against hers, causing the two to sigh contently.

The two sat on the ledge above the large clearing below, the roar of the rushing waterfall a short distance away, though it didn't distract the two from their talk at all (which they had been at for hours straight now). They watched the Monster's below as they waited for the sun to be in proper setting position. They smiled as they saw Buff Frog rocking a now sleeping Daisy in his arms, the child exhausted from all of the doings of the day. Her twin was held in the safe and comfortable grasp of Bearicorn who looked nervous and hesitant holding the young one, as if afraid she might break, but with Buff Frog's coaching he began to relax some. The other Monsters looked jealous though that Bearicorn had been chosen shooting him death glares behind his back.

"So then, Diaz, which sign are you?" Star asked picking the conversation back up after a few seconds of silence from the two.

"I'm a Narwhal," Marco said proudly, puffing his chest out a bit.

"What, no way?!" Now it was Star's turn to be surprised.

"Yeah, I definitely am, dad told me so," Marco confirmed.

"Wow, how incredible is that!" Star declared, a bright beam on her face as she finally sat up, squeezing her cheeks in delight, her eyes shimmering. "My boyfriend's birthday sign is the same as my favorite spell!" she let out a loving sigh as she kissed his cheek, whispering gleefully, "Could you be anymore perfect?"

"Well I am dating the most amazing girl in the universe, so that is gonna be hard to top," Marco said with one of those cute, signature smiles that just made Star melt.

"Ohhh you," she cooed, pulling him closer so he was practically sitting on her lap as she led him in a breathless kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes just enjoying the moment, trying to get his sluggish mind to memorize every second of the wonderful act. Star smiled into the kiss as she felt his lips moving against hers in longing and she happily complied, deepening the kiss until the two were forced to pull away gasping for air, their cheek marks losing their glow as they separated.

"Wow, that was one of our best ones," Star panted, her eyes shimmering from the magical experience.

Marco's eyes were half-lidded, the goofiest look on his face as he simply nodded and muttered, "Uh huh." Star couldn't help but admire how precious her Marco was, this wasn't the first time one of her kisses had left him unable to speak but that didn't make it any less adorable. Suddenly a glow from the distance grabbed her attention as she swerved to see the sun had finally reached its peak on the horizon, luckily still visible over the treetops from this height. "Oh Marco it's starting," Star gasped, grabbing him tightly by the arm.

Marco finally snapped out of his daze, his head clearing of the goo that was once functioning brain cells as he stared out at the enchanting sunset, the sky looking like something out of a painting, a picturesque setting to the end of another glorious day on Mewni. His heart skipped a beat at the beautiful sight, his mouth gaped open in awe and from next to him, Star looked the same. He had missed this so much, watching the sunset with his beautiful bestie and a part of him ached as he thought about all the sunsets he had missed while busy with the whole Commission thing.

He forced his eyes away from the captivating glow and onto the only sight in the dimensions that was more breathtaking than the setting sun, Star. "Hey um, Star," he said slowly and the girl finally caught his eye, her blue eyes sparkling brighter than a _thousand_ sunsets.

"Yeah, Marco," Star said, a light, cute smile on her face as she stared at him expectantly.

"I was just gonna say, that I kinda missed this," the hooded teen replied, before looking quickly away to hide his blush.

Star nodded. "Yeah me too," the blond breathed, her voice nearly a sigh.

"And, also, I know we've been busy with stuff lately and since our first meeting is in a couple of days, it's probably only to get worse," Marco continued, rubbing the back of his neck. "But watching the sunset with you is one of my favorite things in the world and... I don't want to lose that."

Star gave his hand a gentle squeeze, her blue orbs dancing in the low light and his brown quickly followed suit. "I don't either," she admitted, her heart cheek marks thumping once.

"Then let's make a promise," Marco said excitedly, thrilled he wasn't going to lose one of his favorite activities with Star. "That no matter what, we meet up every day to watch the sunset together."

Star smiled and nodded, but was caught off-guard as Marco held out a pinkie. "What are you doing?" she asked sweetly, an eyebrow slowly raising.

The boy gave her a naive look, "The twins told me this is what you do when you make a promise. Why did I do it wrong?"

Star shook her head. "No there a lot of ways to make a promise really. You can shake hands, hold each others pinkies, some people even spit on their hands," Star explained.

Marco looked grossed out by the last one, saying, "Ugh, why would someone do that?"

"Don't know," Star said with a shrug, she agreed it was disgusting. A coy smile spread across her face as she leaned closer to her boyfriend, till there noses were nearly touching. "But I know just the thing we should do to seal our promise."

Marco's breath hitched at the look in Star's eye. "Wh-What?!" the hooded teen stuttered, wondering what possible thing his girlfriend could have in mind.

"This," she said, leaning closer till there lips were slightly touching, then blew right into his mouth, making the boy cough as she laughed.

"Star," he gasped out.

The girl just giggled and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm just kidding, Marco. Obviously hugs are the way to go for us," she said, laying his head against her chest.

Marco just held her back, listening to the gentle beating of her heart as he stared out at the sunset, already dreaming of the ones to come.

 **Okay and that is a wrap! I couldn't resist myself ending this chapter on some nice Starco fluff! Couple of notes, so yeah, I did name the place they were at Gravity Falls, but the name fit too perfectly _not_ to use. Oh and for anyone confused Aureole signs are from the Book of Spells, they are basically Mewnian zodiac. Also, I bet you guys didn't expect some Daisy and Violet bonding and character growth. Neither did I honestly, haha, but I'm glad it happened. This was one chapter that I only had a vague grasp of what I wanted to happen. Other than the opening I had planned, the rest was vague and open, so I decided I wanted this to be a more feel good, fluffy chapter, since I don't think I've had one of those recently. And yeah I still included a bit of some drama in there, because it's me, but I tried not to go extreme or overboard with it. **

**Honestly this chapter was so enjoyable to me mostly because I got to focus on three of my favorite interactions right now: Starco duh, Marco and the Monsters, and Daisy and Violet with literally anyone! I would ask you guys which of these is your favorites but my best guess would be that 90 percent of you would say Starco, which I can't blame you for, it is probably still my favorite.**

 **So the next one I'm hoping to get out in the next two weeks but honestly it might take me longer. I know my posting schedule has been all over the place lately and I'm really sorry for that, I'm trying to get it back in order but the thing is *sigh* real talk, guys, I have a driving test in a few days and that has been weighing really heavily on my mind. I don't handle stress very well and so the more lax posting schedule has been sorta due to that. Writing does help to relax me and I love to do it but I didn't want to stress myself out by trying to get chapters out in a limited time frame and with working a full-time job sometimes it can be hard to find time to work on it. I mostly put a time frame up lately to keep myself from procrastinating for months at a time, haha. But I want to be more reliable with my posting and so I'm going to try my very best to do so.**

 **So wish me luck guys and I will be hard at work to bring you all another awesome chapter! Thanks for being understanding these last several months, I love you all and I will hopefully see you again in the next two weeks or so.**

 **Gamelover41592- Glad you liked it! Haha, yeah I love both of these guys and so I couldn't just leave them the way they were, I wanted them to turn themselves around and become good friends to both Star and Marco. I did have a lot of fun with that one myself, a more comedic chapter is always a fun experiment! ;)**

 **Xzbro- Oooohh, haha, nah your good! To be honest, it was a my bad too, I knew I had seen your name before but I just couldn't remember where and when I was looking through my PM's after I posted the chapter I face-palmed. Sorry about that, haha, anyways thanks for the review though. And haha, yeah my posting is crazy sometimes!**

 **SugarQueen97- Haha, yeah that is the one joke I was unsure if I should put in, but I'm so glad I did, hahaha. XD Marco is so adorably naïve, I love him!**

 **Yeah I thought it fit him well and that is a good question, probably the same as the show honestly, his scene would be something like this...**

 **(Star and Marco walk up to photo booth and goblin)**

 **Star: Is this the magic photo booth that only takes a picture of you when you are showing your truest selves?**

 **Goblin: Yessiree, this is the place, do you and your boyfriend want to try it out?**

 **Marco: (nodding eagerly) Yes, please.**

 **(Goblin parts the curtains)**

 **Goblin: Well then step right in.**

 **(Star and Marco enter, a few seconds later a picture prints of them kissing each other)**

 **Goblin: Well that didn't take long.**

 **(Janna suddenly walks up to the goblin)**

 **Janna: How much to lock someone in a booth with me?**

 **Goblin: 5 extra.**

 **Janna: Deal. (Hands over money and then turns to behind her with a smirk) Ohhhh Tom...**

 **Well thank you, I took your advice to heart, but I wanted his change to feel natural and not too big a jump from last chapter. I honestly don't know why I was so dead-set on it for so long, it was my original plan to have him training in karate, but I think this makes more sense. I also wanted to highlight that he more thinks on his feet and uses his head than just beats his enemies senseless, because that doesn't make sense for his character.**

 **Yeah, it is such a shame, the show went out of its way to make Tad unlikable, but in here he is.. not that. And I wanted to give him more to do than just laying on Kelly's head, this seemed like the best utilization. Haha, confused yet... yeah, who would have thought Marco Diaz, master chef was going to save the day. Good guess, they also could have given him a Goblin Dog and had him thrown in the dungeon's while he was tripping out on whatever hallucinogens are in those things. Like seriously, did you ever notice that Goblin Dogs seemed a _lot_ like drugs. *shrugs* Maybe it was just me. **

**Yeah, your probably right, though, he should know and I don't exactly have a big payoff for this planned... hey, unrelated note, have you read this chapter yet. I mostly have Marco keeping it secret cause it makes sense for his character to try and keep his dad from worrying, but y'know Buff Frog knowing would probably lead to even more action down the road. Seriously, checked out the new one yet or are you like me and jump immediately to the response. Janna is precious when she is taunting her crush and I love her way of flirting, she loves to make Tom blush and let's be honest, she's probably the only one who can.**

 **Haha, I'm so glad you enjoyed, I didn't really want to change Pony cause I like her character, I just highlighted her funny nature without making her a pain to everyone. I was actually one of the few it seemed who never hated Pony later on... maybe it's because she is one of the only characters who didn't evolve at all, say what you want about the others but they all grew in some way for better or worse, but Pony is the same from episode one to the last. Yeah, I thought giving Marco a guy friend would be a good idea and honestly their bro moments in the show are some of my favorite interactions overall, so I wanted them to achieve this here and it seems like I actually did, yay me! :) Admittedly this was probably not the best plan on any of their part, but luckily no one takes anything Roy does seriously and the Monster was Lobster Claws, not exactly the most threatening creature known to Mewman kind.**

 **You can thank Ghosta for the name, I thought it fit perfectly and yeah it does have a Chinese theme to it doesn't it? Haha, now I'm picturing the same. Tom probably wouldn't buy it but Marco would believe that without a doubt. Hehehe, thanks for the review! Hope you like this one as well.**

 **Bedrock Armor- Yay, that's so awesome! *confetti rains down from above* Congratulations! That is quite the accomplishment, I'm happy for you! A toast to you, my friend! *takes giant gulp of water* What, I don't drink alcohol okay.**

 **Yeah that is a good point, I keep it as a rule to myself that I don't do edits on a completed chapter because I'm afraid I will just spend days on end tweaking it and re-posting it over and over again every time I see an error. The only official re-post I did was when I wrote Rhombulus by the wrong name for an entire chapter and I just couldn't let that one slide because it was sorta embarrassing, haha. I have actually thought about making it so that, people can use scissors when they are within the barrier, but can't use it from outside to get in. This would virtually fix all the plot holes I have.**

 ***sighs* Well that's great, so I guess I'm stuck with him for awhile. So wait a minute is that why I continue to have a reoccurring nightmare where Star and Marco don't end up together and were separated forever at the end of the finale! Bill, where are you? *searches around from him* I'll get him for that later.**

 **Ooohhh boy, yeah sorry. You were right in your assumption, of course I meant not just a dumb stereotype! Geez, this is why I need to proofread my responses instead of writing them out at like 2 in the morning without checking them once. But no, no I promise it wasn't intentional I think she sounds great! *whispering to myself* Maybe I can say Cipher changed it right before I posted.**

 **Bill: Hey, don't peg your mistakes on me, Shipster. If I wanted to mess with you, mine would be way more direct than that.**

 **Yeah, haha, guess that's a stupid question. You did say you were making it as realistic as possible and I gave you the most cartoonish idea ever, haha. I think either of these ideas would work though and I love the idea of her later on coming out as having extra limbs when she feels she is no longer ashamed and has to hide who she is. Hey, it's your story, doing both is more than acceptable. :D**

 **Well you are so welcome, anytime friend. Well that's fine a lot of people starting their Youtube career start off with the bare minimum and when they start taking off and making enough money than they begin upgrading to higher quality mics and stuff. But of course if you want to buy a mic than go for it, it won't hurt anything either.**

 **Sorry I don't! I've heard it's a good game but I myself don't own it or the Switch for that matter. :( Still that is so awesome and I really wish I could play it, It would be really cool to hear that song in the game.**

 **D4rk Sid3- Haha, yeah, that was almost too much for even me! But it was an anniversary and I wanted to give my fans the absolute best chapter possible and so that meant a _lot_ had to be going on. Well thank you, I figured it made sense to move Marco away from the damsel in distress trope and make him able to defend himself without feeling excessive or too big a leap the previous chapter. I still don't want him to be a warrior or anything like that, but I also don't want him to just sit there and take it, so if he needs to fight back or defend himself he is slowly gaining the confidence and ability to do so.**

 **Yeah, it was tricky because having Star yelling at Marco is always a risk and could have upset a lot of people so I handled that very delicately. It also just made sense to me that her resentment has less to do toward them but toward herself since she is still sorta brainwashed to hate certain aspects of herself. And yeah in the end, I wanted to make it clear that they were never in the right behaving the way they did, but rather she was willing to move past that and give them a fresh start going forward.**

 **Well it's here now, hopefully the wait wasn't too long for you! :P Hope you like it!**

 **Viceversa96- We've already discussed this since I know, haha! Soo, guess not much to say except thanks for reading and enjoying! And still can't wait for Lingering Baggage whenever it comes out! Oh and tell your finance hi from me and that I hope she likes the new one! ;D You two dorks stay awesome, okay!**

 **\- ch. 19- Oh wow, thank you so much for saying so! It is always nice to hear that a new reader is enjoying! Haha, yeah I know my story is far from perfect, I'm always happy with how it turns out but that doesn't mean it still doesn't have it's problems because even the greatest writers in the world can make mistakes... and I am definitely not one of them. Thank you I pride myself on my characters, particularly the mains and yeah I actually hate descriptions for scenery, whenever I read a book that describes a setting, I actually end up zoning the whole thing out unless it is immensely simplified, so this is why I made them so easy to read and understand, because I didn't want to look back over my work and not be able to understand a paragraph _I_ wrote, hahaha. XD A lot of times the characters I throw in are there just to make appearances and showcase where and how they fit into the world I'm crafting. To me I can't make all of them important without taking away from Star and Marco's development and that is something I just cannot sacrifice. As for the guards, I'll admit I just couldn't resist throwing them into different chapters, I have a bit of a soft spot for them.**

 **Yeah, I guess there wasn't really, but they felt that if they didn't take charge and try and end the war themselves there wouldn't be a Mewni left to rule. So to them it was a tough decision they had to make for the greater good. Not arguing that that still didn't exactly qualify them leaving all things considered, though. Yeah, I'm planning on delving more into that in the future and honestly at the time I was just unsure how dark I wanted to make it. They do come back later as you know now, but since Star was fighting with them I didn't have much of a reason to put them in. I did actually have a chapter planned for season 1 where they returned but... um, I realized it made Pony completely unlikable and an un-redeemable character, so yeah, I cut it. I was saving the Diaz backstory for later so I left it purposely vague.**

 **The think I like the most about Toffee in the show was the layer of mystery he had, so I wanted to keep that in tact in my story. I tried to make up for that by showing his slow corruption away from his own motives and morals. In the beginning, he believed in Monster kind and only hated the Mewmans, but as time passes, that hatred grew outward till he despised the very creatures he was seeking to 'help'. At least that's what I was going for, how well I executed it... well, I did my best. Thank you, I wanted Jackie and Janna to have significance and I consider them mains so I had to make sure they were fleshed out and worked well off of Star and Marco and served to help the stories progression.**

 **Haha, yeah the Starco moments are my favorite to write so I try to include as many as I can and tend to go all-out with them. They are just so fun to write and I know if I end up gushing over them that you all will too! Cute Starco fluff is my specialty I would say and I'm glad you enjoyed them so much, even with them OOC. It was all intentional, but I can understand you appreciating the original Star and Marco's personalities, I do too.**

 **That is so nice of you to say, thanks! *bows humbly* Nitpicking is fine, as long as the overall result is something you enjoy I'm happy! I will and I'm so glad to have you! Stick with me cause this ride is gonna get... fluffy! Haha, sorry couldn't resist! XD**

 **Ch. 27- Glad you liked it! :) Haha, I'm always trying to improve and I think I will more the longer I continue doing this! Oh that's good to hear, glad I could unintentionally fix the problems you were having! No I don't, I do some rough editing before I post but I don't generally waste too much time on this phase of the process, which is how I end up with the errors I have. I actually have an idea to fix this but... it's actually kinda hush-hush right now because I am busy getting it ready.**

 **Ahem, but anyways, thanks so much for the reviews and for the kind words, they mean a lot to me! I mean you calling me one of the best Starco writers has me blushing! ^/^**

 **RJWritingInk- It is so good to hear you say all these nice things about this story of mine and I loved the recommendation! I decided to return the favor, so right back at you, friend! Most of this I already responded to through PM's but the kind words were really uplifting and left a huge smile on my face! Hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **Monkey lover 911- Yeah, about time too. I'm glad I didn't put that off for too long like I planned from the beginning. Cause now I can include more Tom and Pony Head in the chapters to come! Yeah, but probably not right away, he kinda blew his chance last time and will have to have a better scheme next time. Oh Ludo has something up his sleeves, how well thought out it is and competently it is pulled off is yet to be seen, haha! Thank you! As always it is great to hear from you!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


	29. Official

Chapter 28: Official

 **Hey guysss! I have returned to bring you all a new chapter! And guess what, I passed my driver's test so I'm an official driver now, yay! That has nothing to do with the title though, I swear, haha. XD Still, thanks you everyone for all the love and support for my story and for all the favorites, follows and reviews, you guys are just so, so awesome! So this one is late but I did try and do my best, I've just been really busy with life and everything. Literally the driving thing was stressing me out so much I was having trouble sleeping at night and lack of sleep can really affect my ability to concentrate on writing, so yeah, I'm surprised I managed to get the last one out when I did considering. But I'm back and well-rested and ready to present to you all my newest chapter!**

 **So it's a big day for the gang, today is the day of the first official meeting of Star's commission! This one was a lot of fun to write and they're are quite a few new characters in this one so let me know how I did with them. Anyways, hope you enjoy and I will leave you to it!**

 **Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.**

"Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand!" Star shouted, holding her wand out at her target. There was a burst of light and a second later the castle had a new addition, a large meeting room, big enough to fit the group of young visiting monarchs. Star smiled proudly at what she had made, no longer would she have to sit in an uncomfortable, stuffy board room, now they had nothing but space while they made plans and resolved issues in the divided Mewni. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Jackie admiring the new room. "Wow, Star it looks great!" she praised pleasantly.

"Yeah, I think it will work," Star said humbly, though inside she was shining and it wasn't just from the compliment. This was the moment they had all been waiting for, after nearly a month and a half of work, the Monster Mewman Peace Commission was finally up and running. The fellow members were already on the way and in less than an hour they would be ready to begin. Star could feel the butterflies in her tummy, an excited, nervous buzz filling her being as she was both ready to begin but slightly scared at the same time. It was a strange feeling to be sure, but one she was able to push past. After all it was far too late to get cold feet now, she had to go forward with this, she had no choice, for the sake of her people she had to make this work.

Okay, that was doing seriously little to calm her down she realized, letting out a mental sigh. She turned to her skater friend, who looked oddly chill about everything and Star felt a twinge of jealousy. How did she do it? How was it that Jackie never seemed fazed by stuff like this? How could she keep her head under so much pressure and when importance was being thrust on her like this? She wished she could do the same, maintain her calm under the most trying of circumstances. Or at least hide it well enough that no one noticed when she was. Star most of the time was unable to pull that off, something in her stance, posture, or expressions giving her away.

And it seemed she was right to assume she was less successful in disguising her true feelings as Jackie suddenly asked, "Nervous?"

Star nodded, knowing there was no point in denying it. "Maybe a little," she said.

Jackie gave her shoulder a quick, reassuring pat. "Relax, your gonna do great," the skater said confidently and Star wished she could be as sure of that fact as her friend was.

"Well I'd do better if I didn't have to worry about all of Mewni watching," Star pointed out, grimacing at the seeing eye cam hovering nearby, preparing to begin recording. She knew letting their first meeting be filmed would only help beneficent in reassuring the Mewmans and Monsters further by showing them just how committed they truly were to the task, but that didn't mean it eased Star's nerves in the slightest, feeling the pressure falling solely on her shoulders.

"Wanna know what I do when I'm stressed out?" Jackie asked and Star nodded eagerly.

"Yes please," Star practically begged, listening intently to whatever advice the level-headed skater had in mind.

"Just clear your mind and think about something that makes you happy," Jackie explained. "For me that's skateboarding, I just picture myself riding on my board and pretty soon, I'm not worrying about anything else."

Star let out a sigh. "You make it sound so easy," the blond royal replied and Jackie grinned.

"Just trust me, Star, it works," Jackie told her, before walking off and Star thought that over for a moment. _Something that makes me happy._ She closed her eyes and the image of a smiling brown-haired boy came into her mind. He looked so happy and carefree as he grinned widely at her, his chocolate orbs shining as he caught her gaze, looking content just to be in her presence. The light from the setting sun highlighted his tanned skin perfectly, making him a sight to behold and his small mole and glowing cheek marks made him too cute for words. Star smiled widely, her cheeks blushing slightly, as she heard his voice softly say her name. "Star..."

But then she heard it again, much louder and more feminine, not to mention more commanding than she was used to hearing from him, "Star?" Wait, that wasn't how Marco sounded? His voice was much cuter and if she didn't know any better she would swear that sounded more like...

"Star!" Moon practically shouted in her daughter's ear, trying to gain her attention from whatever thoughts were clearly consuming her mind. Star screamed and pulled back, staring puzzled into her mother's eyes, panting slightly from the scare. "Mom!" she squeaked against her will, though if she was chocked up from the scare or whatever she was thinking about, Moon didn't know.

"I just came to see how everything was going," the royal explained, her queenly nature never wavering for an instant. She looked out at the meeting room her daughter had made, studying it closely. She had been hesitant when her daughter had first pitched the idea, not sure if allowing new rooms to be slapped willy-nilly into the foundation was a good call, but she had to admit it looked quite beautiful now that it was finished. It fit well with the decor of the castle, her daughter copying it exactly, but still putting in her own touches, carvings of narwhals and unicorns etched into the foundation and the large meeting table formed into the shape of a star. "And it seems you have everything under control," she commented, satisfied.

But as she looked down at her daughter the smile left and the eyebrow raising once more, as she asked, "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing!" Star blurted out much too quickly and it didn't take a genius for Moon to deduce what (or rather who) her lovestruck daughter had been thinking about, the blush on her cheeks enough to give her away.

"Well, I just came to wish you luck and that your father and I will be rooting for you," Moon said and Star finally smiled back, giving her mother a tight hug.

"Thanks mom," Star said, the gratefulness in her tone, making Moon's heart leap. "I'm gonna make you both proud."

"I know you will," Moon replied, giving her a quick peck on the head, before releasing her and heading off, waving to her daughter as she went. She passed by Lily in the hallway and Moon turned to watch her go. But she continued on down the hallway after a moment of hesitation, her mind now filled and occupied with her own day of work ahead and she couldn't afford to waste brain space on anything else whatsoever.

When Lily reached her niece, she swept her up in a surprise hug, spinning her in a circle for a moment as she gushed, "Oh Star, I am so proud of you! Look at you, you little monarch! If you keep growing up this fast, pretty soon your mom and dad will be out of the job!"

Star laughed as she was spun around the room by her favorite aunt, quickly growing dizzy as she struggled to form a coherent thought. "Aunt Lily, put me down! What if someone sees us?!" Star exclaimed around her giggles. As much fun as this was, it was pretty unbecoming of two rulers.

Finally, Lily released her merciful grip, setting her niece back down on her feet, where she swayed for a moment while her vision tried to catch up with the rest of her, the room still spinning wildly in her eyes. "Sorry I just couldn't resist!" Lily exclaimed, squeezing Star's cheeks. "I'm just so excited for you! You put a lot of work into this and I wanted to make sure you were enjoying it and not stressing over it like your mom!"

"Does mom really stress that much?" Star asked in concern and Lily gave her a sad nod.

"Unfortunately so," Lily muttered under breath.

Star looked down thoughtfully, before meeting her aunt's eye again, asking, "So, uh, what do you think of the meeting room I made?"

Lily quickly looked into the room, her eyes taking in every sight, before she smiled and said, "It's lovely, Star. And it fits you perfectly!"

Star blushed but said nothing more as they walked into the room, Lily still admiring the scenery. "I think it's nice too, Star," Glossaryk's voice suddenly pitched in and the two turned to see him sitting in one of the chairs eating pudding with a spoon. "Much better than that stuffy room your mother always piles us into."

"Glossaryk?" Star questioned, shocked to already see him in the room. "How did you-" She stopped herself, knowing it was better not to ask, whatever bizarre answer he would most likely give only serving to confuse her further. "Never mind," she muttered under her breath. But her voice rose as she did point out hesitantly, "But, um, Glossaryk, that's not your seat, that seat is reserved for Rich Pigeon." She gestured to the name etched into the seat like all the others gathered around the desk and sure enough it read clear as day, 'Rich Pigeon' in bold, cursive writing.

"My bad I never could read cursive," Glossaryk commented before floating across the table to a different chair, taking a large bite of pudding and splattering bits of it onto the table and floor.

"Glossaryk no, that's Jackie's seat," Star said softly, before sighing defeatedly.

Lily put a hand on her shoulder, to calm her niece's nerves, telling her, "Deep breath, Star. You will make it through this."

Star smiled gratefully as she took her advice and sucked in a long, slow breath into her lungs. "Now then, which seat is mine?" Lily asked looking around at the seats in puzzlement, squinting as she tried to read the delicate handwriting.

"Right there," Star said dryly, pointing out her seat in question, before adding, "Remember? You helped me plan the place-settings." She raised an accusing eyebrow at her aunt who looked around the room flustered. They both knew that Lily was supposed to be there to help take the burden off of the young royal, but how could she do that if she couldn't even remember something as simple as a seating chart?

"Yes well, I can't be expected to remember every single thing we planned out for the last several weeks," she said, trying to defend herself for her lack of awareness. But her bright smile returned, reassuring her niece of her support by adding enthusiastically, "However, if you give me some direction I am sure that I can still be of help to you."

This seemed to catch Star off-guard as she stared at her aunt blankly for a moment, before recovering with a start. "Right... ummmm-" Star began, but she couldn't think of what to tell her to do. In fact, she was having trouble thinking of anything, her mind completely empty. She began to panic, the meeting hadn't even started yet and she was already falling apart. This was never gonna work. What was she thinking? What if she...

Star's out of control thoughts ceased as she felt a hand on her shoulder, Lily giving her an encouraging look as she said,"Why don't I go check and make sure the food is ready for when our guests arrive. I'm sure they will be hungry after a long travel."

Star was silent for a moment, before saying in a tight, nervous voice, "Yeah, yeah, go do that." She waved her hand absentmindedly in the direction of the exit and Lily nodded before obeying, leaving the room quickly. Once the royal was gone, Star leaned against the table, letting out a long breath, her body shaking slightly. She had to get control of herself, no one could afford for her to shut down now. She was the leader of the commission for corn's sake, she needed to act like one. And as she slowly looked up, trying to steady her nerves, she saw that Glossaryk was staring at her intently with his weird diamond-shaped pupils. His eyes seemed to be trying to convey something to Star and suddenly the blond remembered the talk the two had had. She could do this, she just had to trust her instincts.

So, after taking another minute to recover, as well as picture a certain brown-haired boy again to relax her, she rose up from the table, now standing much taller, a confident smile on her face, and she could swear she saw Glossaryk grin around his bite of pudding. But before Star could comment, the door to the room busted open as their first guest and member arrived. Star smiled brightly at the sight of a familiar floating horse snout in the doorway, who quickly shouted at the top of her lungs, "What up, B-Fly!"

"Pony!" Star exclaimed, running over and throwing her arms around her in a hug. At this point, whatever hard feelings Star had harbored for her old friend were all but forgotten and it was impossible to tell from her excitement that they had ever been there in the first place. "I'm so glad you made it!"

"Well duh, course I came," Pony scoffed, though there was no resentment in her tone. "Wouldn't be a party without me?" She flipped her mane, arrogantly and Star gave her a small smile, before pointing out with a raised finger, "Um, not really a party."

"Well whatever you know what I mean, girl," Pony said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm just glad to be hanging out with my bestie again!"

"Yeah me too," Star admitted, a bit hesitant. It seemed Pony was completely disregarding the whole reason they were there in the first place, treating this historic and monumental occasion as a casual meet and greet. "But y'know, we are here to do important-"

"Yeah, yeah," Pony quickly interrupted, flying deeper into the room. "But like, are there gonna be any refreshments or something? Cause like, I can't keep my sharp, beautiful mind working without some food in me."

Star sighed. _Well it was a start, at least._ "Aunt Lily just went to go check on them, she should be back shortly."

"Well that's good, cause I'm starving!" a new voice yelled and Star turned to see Ferguson giving her a goofy grin as he walked over, Alfonso directly behind him, looking around the room in awe.

"Hey Ferguson! Alfonso!" Star greeted the two cheerfully, wrapping the two up in a hug. It had been a while since she last gotten to see the two orphans and she couldn't hide her joy at being reunited with them again. "It's great to see you, how have you been?!"

"We've been awesome, Star!" Alfonso said, giving her a wide grin.

"Yeah, life in Pixtopia couldn't be better," Ferguson continued. "Thanks to me, the pixies lives are better than ever since I came up with the plan to rid the kingdom of the last of the frogs that were plaguing are land." He gave Star a bragging smile.

"Uhh, don't you mean my plan," Alfonso said pointedly.

"Yeah, but I'm the one who implemented it," the chubby king argued, clearly trying to hog all the glory for himself. "So I get the credit." Alfonso just rolled his eyes in response and Star couldn't hold back a giggle. These two really never changed.

"Well I can't thank you two enough for agreeing to part of the commission!" Star exclaimed, covering her heart with her hands to emphasis her appreciation toward them. "Your really helping me out by being here."

"No problem, Star," Ferguson said with a casual wave of his hand. "Anything for you!"

"Yeah, besides we wouldn't even be here now without you, so really we're happy to return the favor," Alfonso added, the two smiling goofily, but brightly, at their friend and Star couldn't help but blush.

"Awww, you guys!" she said, her voice cracking some with emotion as she swept them into another tight hug, blinking around her blurry vision for a moment. "You two are really the best!"

"Hey if anyone is being called the best, it's me!" Pony suddenly shouted and the three turned to the clearly jealous, raging unicorn head hovering above them with a stabbing glare.

"Pony," Star began with a warning tone. "What did we talk about?"

Pony let out a long sigh, before muttering flatly, "You are allowed to have other friends besides me." She was clearly displeased at having to admit such a thing, but Star wasn't done yet.

"And?" the blond pressed.

"And I can't get jealous about it," she finished, her voice so low Star almost didn't hear it.

"Good," Star said with a curt nod. Though the two had made up, her and Tom were still on probation in Star's eye until they could completely prove to her that they had changed.

Ferguson and Alfonso were both in disbelief at seeing the cocky future leader humbled in such a way, both gaping slack-jawed at the short exchange. In the past, it was their experience (as well as all the other orphans who had met her) that Pony was always too busy singing her own praises to listen to reason and now here she was admitting defeat after only a short scolding, now resorting to simply pouting and ignoring the three altogether. What the heck had happened while they were away? They were both at a loss at trying to think of what they could have missed that would lead to such a bizarre outcome. Now all either of them could wonder was what else had changed since their last visit.

"Soooo uhh, Star," Alfonso began, recovering somewhat from his shock. "Heard you and Marco became official, that's pretty awesome."

Star's eyes widened, caught off guard for a moment, but it quickly switched to a bright, lovestruck smile. "Yeah, it has been amazing so far," she sighed dreamily, thinking of her adorable bestie in all his dorky glory, and her cheek marks began to thump against her will.

"Well, congrats, we were rooting for you two!" Ferguson added with a wink, Alfonso giving her two thumbs up.

Now Star was blushing, as she softly said, "Thanks."

"So where is he," Alfonso asked, looking around the room. "When we heard he was gonna be a member of the commission too, we were hoping we'd get a chance to congratulate him too."

"Yeah and since you kinda hogged him all to yourself during the Blood Moon Ball, I never really got a chance."

Star paused, having already wondered the same thing, herself. Marco should have been there by now, but for some reason he seemed to be running late. Still, she wasn't too concerned figuring there was some reason behind it, quickly telling the boys, "Oh, don't worry he's coming. He's probably just still getting ready. He'll be here soon."

…

Marco was snoring loudly as he held Corny tightly to his chest, drooling slightly on the stuffed corncob, blissfully unaware of the world turning in the realm of his dreams. He frowned slightly in his sleep rolling over and stretching his arm across the bed, whacking a snoozing Violet in the face, who woke with a start.

"Hey, Big Brother!" Violet groaned, rubbing at her eyes.

"M'sorry," Marco replied groggily, before letting out a sleepy yawn. "Didn't mean to eat... all the cotton candy."

Daisy also woke from all the noisy talking, staring over at the two with droopy eyes. "What's going on?" she asked lazily.

"Marco hit me in the face and woke me up," Violet explained in annoyance, her cheeks puffing up cutely.

"Well it was probably time to get up anyway," Daisy said with a shrug. She then looked quickly around the boy's room before asking, "What time is it, anyways?"

"I don't know," Violet replied, before looking down at the sleeping teen. "Big Brother, what time is it?"

Marco's eyes finally blinked open, as he stared blankly at the girl for a moment. "Huh?" he asked in confusion, his still fuzzy brain having trouble processing anything.

"What time is it?" Violet asked again in slight annoyance.

Marco looked at her, then to the window where bright sunlight was spilling through, then back to the child, before saying, "Well it's definitely morning." Violet just gave him an irritated glare in response.

"Why don't you check your phone, Big Brother?" Daisy said helpfully and Marco yawned before climbing out of bed and stumbling over to where his phone sat charging. He rubbed absentmindedly at his eye as he checked the time on his screen, before his eyes quickly widened in distress. "9:30!" he shouted, clenching his phone in a death grip. That couldn't be right, he had made sure to set his alarm for seven. "Oh man, I'm late! The meeting is gonna start soon! How did this happen?!"

"Well your weird buzzing box was making a loud noise earlier so I turned it off," Violet explained and Marco felt his heart clench in panic.

"You did what?!" he exclaimed.

"Your welcome," Violet said proudly, not catching onto the boy's horrified tone. But Marco didn't waste anymore time on words as he quickly flew around his room in a mad dash, flinging clothes left and right as he searched for the perfect outfit he had set out the night before and somehow misplaced. Once he _finally_ found what he was looking for (his very favorite red hoodie which for some reason always smelt like Star, a pair of clean and pressed black pants, and a special item he had found for the occasion) he ran into his closet, getting changed really quick, before slamming the door open, not even bothering to check himself in the mirror in his haste.

He ran past the bed shouting, "See you later, girls!"

"Good luck, Big Brother!" Daisy shouted after him, even as the door slammed closed.

…

Things began to move rather quickly for Star as the rest of the members began to pile into the room, the blond royal making sure to greet each and every one of them personally. Princess Penelope gave her a tight hug proclaiming her joy at being there, Prince Larry Kelpbottom strutted into the room with a flair that could only be associated with him bowing to the girl and Star curtseying politely back (the boy having to give a quick word to the maids to clean up the water trail he left behind him afterwards), Rich Pigeon offering one of his wings to shake in greeting and Star _very_ tenderly and delicately obliged remembering Aunt Lily telling her how fragile the pigeon race's limbs were, Princess Jaggy Jags just blushed and walked to her seat, and her cousin Rock Johannson just walked past her without a word too distracted by his mirror phone to notice her. Lily returned, along with several servants, who began passing out snacks to the guests. Once everyone was inside and situated (most of them in the wrong seats) Star looked around and noticed two seats still empty. Tom, which wasn't surprising he was always late to everything, and Marco. She grabbed Jackie's arm pulling her out into the hall as she asked in concern, "Have you seen Marco?"

"No, why is he still not here yet?" the skater asked in concern.

Star shook her head. "It's not like him to run late, do you think he's okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine Star," Jackie reassured her.

Just then they heard a familiar panting down the hall, followed by a shout, "Sorry I'm late!" The two turned to see a very disheveled Marco run up to them, breathing heavily from the mad dash through the castle. His hair was messy and had clearly not been brushed, his hoodie left unzipped, and his shoes were untied. But stranger than all of these were the thin pair of wire-framed glasses on his sweaty face.

"Marco, why are you wearing glasses?" Star asked, holding back a giggle.

The hooded teen adjusted them slightly on his face, as he explained, "Well I read in one of my books that wearing glasses makes you look more important and so people will take you more seriously. Do you like them?" His expression was so innocent and pure that Star just smiled and nodded.

"They look great," she said softly. Marco looked super pleased to hear this, smiling ear to ear as Star slowly zipping up his hood and straightened out any wrinkles she could see in the soft fabric, helping make her boyfriend look presentable for his big day.

"Yeah Marco, you look very professional," Jackie complimented him pleasantly, as she bent down and tied his shoes for him.

Marco seemed to get a burst of confidence from this as he suddenly struck a pose, pointing a finger straight out and shouting, "Now I'm Marco Diaz, MD!"

"What's the 'MD' stand for?" Jackie asked in confusion.

"'Monster Dude'!" Marco exclaimed in cheer.

Star and Jackie shared a quick look, holding back their laughter. As the blond turned back, she shook her head, gushing over her boyfriend's cuteness, as she ran a hand through his hair, combing it into a more manageable look. Marco just stood patiently and waited for her to finish, enjoying the feeling of her soft fingers brushing through his hair, sending tingles down his scalp. Once she was done, Star cupped his cheek in her hand, telling him, "There, now you're perfect."

Jackie also nodded her approval as she stood up. "Yep, lookin' good dude."

"Come on, Monster Dude, let's get you in there," Star giggled as she looped his arm through hers and led him inside, Jackie following right behind.

When the doors opened, Marco was left awe-struck gazing in wonder around the beautiful room, his eyes shimmering as he took in every single thing. But while he was busy gawking Star cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the room, before she said in a strong, regal voice, "Attention everyone! This is Marco, our representative for the Monsters. Say hi Marco."

Marco suddenly was flung back into reality as he realized the attention was now solely on him and he quickly took in the quizzical, judging faces of the other members. His heart rate spiked, his old shy habits resurfacing as he felt a sudden urge to run and hide. But he swallowed it down as he plastered a nervous smile on his face, saying in the most confident voice he could muster, "U-Uh, hi. It's nice to meet you all." He gave a tiny wave, which none of them seemed to return and his arm quickly snapped back to his side.

"So your Star's boyfriend, right?" Princess Penelope asked, her voice warm and inviting and it helped relax him some. "The one who was raised by Monsters."

"Yeah that's right," Marco said with a nod.

"Cool," Rock muttered, his eyes still on his phone screen as his fingers tapped away.

"Well, it is an honor to meet you at last," Rich Pigeon said heartily, rising from his seat and bowing low with his fake, mechanical legs.

"N-No, the honor is all mine," Marco said, returning the bow. When he rose back up, he noticed that the others had simply gone back to talking amongst themselves, seemingly not paying any more mind to the hooded teen, even Rich Pigeon just taking his seat once more. Marco breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that his introduction had actually gone quite well, at least none of them seemed to be giving him any harsh looks or anything... he felt basically accepted. He turned to his girlfriend who gave him an encouraging smile, whispering into his ear, "Your doing great."

Marco felt a shudder down his spine as he felt her warm breath tickle his skin and he gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Star," he said, his voice much stronger and more confident now. He quickly looked around at the few empty chairs, unsure which was supposed to be his and suddenly concerned about messing up and sitting in the wrong one. He had to try and make the best impression on his fellow members and embarrassing himself by taking someone else's seat would be a bad way to go. He gave Star a lost look, asking quietly, "Um, which seat is mine?"

Star looked over at the chair Pony was occupying, the unicorn head seemingly not aware of Marco's name delicately carved into the frame above her, and she sighed, telling him in a strained tone, "You can just sit wherever you want." What was the point anyways, not a single member had followed her seating chart, just sitting wherever they wished. In fact, Marco was the only one (besides her aunt) who had even asked where she wanted them to sit. Could literally no one in the entire stinking dimension besides her read cursive?! _So much for the hours of work I put into that,_ Star thought begrudgingly. _That's the last time I get fancy with my naming system._

"Oh, okay," Marco said, before frowning and looking at each seat thoughtfully, trying to decide which would be the best one to choose. He did notice that, for whatever reason, there were names carved into the chairs and he looked longingly at the chair that bore his name, mostly because it was right next to Star's, but unfortunately Pony was sitting there so that was out of the question. That left only three other options excluding Star's and he didn't know which one to pick.

"Hey Marco!" a familiar voice yelled and he quickly spotted Ferguson waving at him, a goofy smile on his face, Alfonso grinning next to him. "Come on, we saved you a seat!" He patted the empty chair in anticipation and Marco quickly raced over and eagerly took his place next to his old friend.

"Ferguson! Alfonso! I didn't know you guys were gonna be here!" Marco shouted happily. It had been forever since he had seen the two, but despite this his fondness for the two was still as strong as when they first met.

"Sure we were," Ferguson said proudly. "In fact, Star asked me personally to come and join."

"I think she did that for everyone, Ferg," Alfonso pointed out. "That doesn't make you special."

The chubby king scowled at his friend, saying through gritted teeth, "Shut it, Al, or you'll be advising me for the next few weeks in the dungeon."

"We don't have a dungeon," Alfonso deadpanned.

"Fine, whatever, then the pixie mines," Ferguson grumbled, crossing his arms.

Marco laughed out loud at the his friend's pouting face. He had almost forgotten how much fun the two were. He had barely even had a chance to hang out with them before, so it was nice that he was finally able to now.

Jackie found her seat, too, next to Marco and Star looked around at the table, her thoughts now on the final remaining guest. She quickly checked the time on a nearby clock and felt her nerves spike with worry. They were already behind schedule and if they didn't get going soon, it could be disastrous. One of the requirements the Magic High Commission had given her to follow was a very tight business schedule and she couldn't fail this task before it even began, that would just look inexperienced and unprofessional on her part. If the boy didn't get here soon, she would have to start without him. "Tom, where are you?" she muttered under her breath and a second later the door behind her flew open in a burst of flames. She turned to see Tom enter, wearing a pair of sunglasses that covered all three of his eyes, a cocky smile on his face as he strutted into the room, looking quite proud of his grand entrance.

He walked up to her, shooting her a smile, as he said, "Hey there, Starship."

"Sunglasses indoors, Tom. Really classy," Star said, her hands on her hips as she practically glared at him.

The boy took them off and gave her a slightly guilty frown, seeing the true nature of her irritation. "Sorry, I know I'm a little late," he began, but Star cut him off.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, giving him an apologetic look. "I'm just stressed is all." The blond gave him a pleasant smile. "I'm glad you're here."

Tom nodded sympathetically. "Don't worry, your gonna be great," he said, his tone surprisingly soothing. "Just go knock em dead."

"Thanks," Star said, letting out another deep breath. She made her way to the front, Tom taking the only available seat left, while she found her own. Her chair (which looked more like a throne sitting higher than the others and much larger) was in the shape of a crown, a pair of butterfly wings carved into the sides and she had it positioned at the very top-point of the five-pointed star, the head of the table. She took her seat and felt a burst of pride and energy just sitting there. She felt like a real ruler, a true queen, and it filled her heart up with courage.

Marco gave a quick glance over to Tom, saying in a semi-quiet tone, "Hey, Tom."

"Sup, Marco," he said, shooting the boy a smile, their quickly growing friendship still as strong as before.

But the moment didn't last long as Star took control of the situation, standing up from her seat and clearing her throat to gain everyone's attention onto her. The room went silent, not a sound could be heard as the group of young royal's all waited for their leader to begin. Star broke eye contact with the group to nod at one of the servant's, who returned the gesture and hit a button on the seeing-eye cam to begin filming the meeting.

Star sucked in a deep breath and began, managing to sound more authoritative and in-control than she felt. "Welcome everyone and thank you all for being here today! It is with great honor that I officially announce that the first ever meeting of the Monster-Mewman Peace Commission has now begun." She took her wand, transforming it into a purple gravel and hit it against the table, for emphasis. She leaned against the table, a bright smile on her face as she looked between each and every member.

Pony floated above her chair her relaxed posture hiding her true purpose to try and gain attention from her fellow members. Glossaryk was simply giving her a blank look, licking the final remnants of pudding off his spoon, Princess Jaggs watching from next to him in disgust. Next to her, Tom sat with his arms folded in front of his chest, the nervous Jaggs casting him a longing, loving look every so often, Star noticed. Kelpbottom and Rich Pigeon were watching Star intensely, their chivalrous and well-mannered sides making them extra obedient and focused. Penelope was smiling at her, though she looked slightly uncomfortable to be there, shifting in her seat every so often and picking a seat near the far-end of the table so she wouldn't be easily noticed, clearly self-conscious of the giant spider bite on the side of her head. Then there was Rock who already looked bored to be there, his eyes on his lap where Star had zero doubt that he was playing on his phone from beneath the table. He had been her last choice to be chosen to be there, but Aunt Lily had been insistent that someone from her father's family line be present and Rock had been the best bet being so close to age as everyone else. And for all his faults he still seemed the mostly likely to join, the Johannsen's proving to be the most unwilling for change, their hatred for the Monsters more apparent than any other kingdom in Mewni. Lily sat next to him, giving her niece an encouraging grin that warmed Star up to see. Last but not least was Jackie, Marco, Ferguson, and Alfonso who were also sending her uplifting looks, trying to motivate her to keep going, while silently reminding her that she wasn't alone and they were there for her.

And it was because of this Star was able to swallow the last bit of doubt left and keep going in a strong, confident tone as she recited the speech she knew by heart. "So, you all already know why your here, Mewni is in a really bad place right now. Ever since the war ended things in Mewni have been..." she paused wanting to make sure her choice of phrasing was correct for the sensitive subject. "...less than wanted. The Mewmans feel unsafe and the Monsters are afraid that their rights are being ignored and nobody knows what to do to fix it." Her worried expression switched to a smile, as she continued. "But that's where you all come in. Together we can make things right, we can give Mewni peace and comfort so they don't have to fear one another and start building a better future for everyone. You are all essentially the future of Mewni afterall." She did a quick gaze around the table as she spoke. "The future leaders of Mewni's kingdoms..." She gazed at each young royal's face. "...as well as our two closest allies." Her eyes then switched to Jackie and Ferguson. But she couldn't stop herself from staring a bit too long at another face at the table, who's bright brown eyes were shimmering with adorable affection. "Not to mention the one who made this all possible in the first place." Marco's cheeks lit up red and Star felt her heart swell, she would _never_ get tired of that.

"Alone there is little we can do, but united I have no doubt we can make out beautiful world more mighty than ever!" Star propelled her fist up into the air and many others followed, letting out a hearty cheer.

With that out of the way and her members properly motivated, Star took her seat again and got right down to business. "But speech's aside, words alone aren't going to be enough to fix Mewni, we need to take some real action to make a big difference and I have made sure that we have full power and right to do _whatever_ is necessary to turn our home around." She folded her hands on the table in a dignified, professional manner as she gave another quick glance around the room. "So, first off, I wanted to ask all of you what problems you've noticed regarding the relationship with Monsters and think need fixing."

Marco was surprisingly the first to stand, beating all the others in their rush to be noticed, raising his hand in the air as he waited to be able to speak. Star gave him a small nod and he sucked in a deep breath before saying, "The Monsters don't have the same right's Mewmans have and because of that they are considered separate from everyone else."

"That is an excellent point Marco," Star praised and he grinned from ear to ear as he sat back down, looking proud of himself for helping. "That will have to be one of the first things we do. Anyone else?"

"Yeah, can we get more snacks in here because I've still got the munchies bad," Pony said and Star shot her a glare that stilled anymore random outbursts.

"Uh, actually I just remembered I'm trying to watch my figure anyways, so I'm good for now," the horse head quickly corrected herself, still trying to go out of her way to stay on Star's good side.

"The Monsters keep attacking my villages," Rock suddenly spoke up out of nowhere, seeming way more invested than Star had been expecting. "If they don't stop soon, my family might just end up going to war with them all over again."

"All do respect," Lily suddenly chimed in. "But your family line is well-known for being more direct and out-spoken than the rest of us, are you sure that is not playing a factor in these attacks?"

"Are you implying that the Johannsen's are to blame?" Rock asked angrily.

"Not at all, the attacks are simply a disagreement between two hard-headed, stubborn people, be that Monster or Mewman, but the result could be catastrophic if not stopped," Lily continued, keeping her tone calm and level.

"So what do you think would be the best coarse of action, Aunt Lily," Star asked.

"I think we should try and help them find common ground, a party or get together of sorts to help them see their similarities so they can accept each others differences."

Rock scoffed. "Yeah good luck with that," the young barbarian muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Star let out a sigh. "Well, we will have to try something in the future to help smooth things over with the Johansens, but for now I think it would be best if the Monsters stayed away from that territory until something can be done."

Everyone nodded or muttered their agreement the plan, Star giving her cousin a long look, asking, "Is that something you think you can agree to?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Rock muttered, his eyes dropping back to his lap and the unseen phone screen that rested there. _Well, it was nice while it lasted_ , Star thought to herself, her cousin's sporadic interest gone as quickly as it had come.

"Um well," Penelope suddenly spoke up, her voice low and unsure. "I don't know if this counts or not, but the spiders in my home have been more aggressive than normal and we were hoping maybe this commission could do something to help out with that."

"Uhhh, I don't think spiders count as Monsters, so I'm not sure we can do anything about that," Star hesitantly said and Penelope's face fell.

"Oh, okay, that's fine," she said in clear disappointment.

"What classifies as a Monster anyways, because honestly I don't appreciate people saying that's what my people are all the time, we're actually quite ," Tom grumbled in annoyance.

"I as well have had that very same problem," Rich Pigeon spoke up.

Star thought about that. "That is a good point, we should probably clarify the difference between Monsters, demons and... talking pigeons."

"Actually I am the only one in my race who can currently speak," Rich Pigeon explained.

"Well, there you go then," Star said. "Monsters can speak but pigeon folk can't."

"But some Monsters can't speak either," Jackie reminded Star. "Or at least can't speak English or Mewnish."

"Oh yeah," Star muttered, rubbing her chin. "That is true. I'm not sure what the difference is."

"Most Monsters learn to speak the languages we do when they are young so that everyone can understand them, but some have their own languages that they speak instead," Marco clarified and there was a long shocked pause as everyone just stared at him for a moment. The boy felt weird from all the gawking as he added a bit shyly, "That's what Buff Frog told me at least."

"Well that makes sense, I guess," Star took back over, hoping to diverge some of the attention away from her blushing boyfriend. "There isn't really anything that defines the difference between them, it seems Monsters can be classified as anything that it isn't Mewman."

"Well that's confusing," Pony snapped.

"Yeah it is pretty strange," Star admitted. "But hey, that's the whole point of this, right? To see just how silly all of this has been, labeling some non-Mewmans as Monsters and others as something else."

"Sooo, does that make me a Monster, then?" Larry Kelpbottom asked.

"I'm not sure," Star said, still feeling confused. But she shook her head and changed the subject before they could get anymore off track, "But that's a discussion for another day. For now, our first meeting should be focusing on the most major issues and resolving thoughs so that we don't have to worry about having another war on her hands."

"Well I think one of the major issues is that Mewmans think it is rather unfair that none of the Monsters were ever properly punished for what they did after all of those years," Rich Pigeon suddenly spoke up. "I mean so many lives were lost because of them and yet all of them were simply let off the hook for such treason."

Marco opened his mouth to argue, but was quickly interrupted by Pony. "Well yeah that's because B-fly needed them on her side so she forgave them without a second thought."

Star felt her cheeks flush. "That's not really what happened, actually," the blond tried to clarify, but the other members were too absorbed in their own conversations.

"Yes but that still doesn't change the fact that a lot of people died," Glossaryk said out of nowhere.

"That's not-" Marco started to say, only to be interrupted again.

"Well the Monsters were just following orders, right?" Penelope said. "So, it wasn't entirely their fault."

"It wasn't there fault, they were being used by Toffee," Jackie spoke up. "He tricked them all into following him blindly into the war, from what I've seen none of them wanted to do it."

"That is true, but now some of them still think that the lizard was right," Kelpbottom said. "I've heard the whisperings from Monsters on shore."

"But it isn't-" Marco tried again.

"That's only because the Mewmans haven't done anything to prove to them that Toffee wasn't right," Jaggs said.

"Which is what this commission is here to do," Star said, gaining control back. "So the question is, what can we do to reassure the Monsters that we are on their side?"

Now not a single voice spoke up and Marco saw his chance. "We should-"

"We should give each individual Monster a card telling them that their forgiven," Rock suggested a pleased smile on his lips for the great idea.

Star tried not to cringe, as she said hesitantly, "Maybe something more... direct."

"We could let the Monsters live wherever-"

"Oh, oh," Penelope exclaimed. "We could give the Monsters more land to live on instead of the small corner of Mewni we've been giving them!"

"That's an excellent idea, Penelope!" Star said cheerfully and Marco deflated some in his chair as the members continued to suggest ideas with varying degrees of success. Every time he would try and pitch an idea, it would be quickly covered up by a barge of voices from his fellow members, effectively cutting him off and making him feel worse than ever. No one was listening to him, Star too busy keeping order amongst her members to notice his disappointed state. He was supposed to be helping, but so far he had contributed virtually nothing.

"Don't take it too hard, man," Ferguson suddenly said to him and Marco turned to him in shock. "Their just really invested in what their doing to notice people like us."

Now Marco was really confused. "What do you mean 'people like us'?"

"Y'know the ones who aren't really supposed to be here," Ferguson explained, sounding super nonchalant over the bold declaration.

Marco's mouth dropped open. Is that really what Ferguson thought? That them being there was so non-important that they weren't even expected to contribute anything. "What, of course we are."

"Look, I'm just staying that we both know we're only here because Star wanted to see us."

Marco again jumped on the defensive, proclaiming, "That's not true. Star spent weeks planning all of this out." He didn't want his girlfriend's hard work to be undermined like that, feeling a need to stick up for her. "She put a lot of time and care into choosing each member."

"And how long was it before she chose you?" Ferguson asked.

Marco froze with a start. "Well... the first day, but-"

"Look Marco, you shouldn't take it so hard," the chubby king continued. "Everyone knows that you and Star are dating, so of course she would pick you for such an important position. My wife does the same thing for me all the time, heck, she'll let me do whatever I want without thinking about it. You got to learn to enjoy it and not worry about what everyone else thinks."

Marco hesitated before asking in a worried tone, "What... does everyone else think?"

"That Star only asked you to join because your her boyfriend," Ferguson said and Marco felt his blood run cold.

Was that really what people thought about him? That he didn't really deserve or earn his position at all? That the only reason he was there in the first place... was because Star had feelings for him? Looking at it that way, it felt like a slap in the face to his parents' vision, two people who had given up their lives to give him a chance to carry on in their place. He had hoped that being part of Star's commission would allow him to begin repaying all the people he owed his new life to, but how could he do that when the others didn't take him seriously? Was he just a joke in their eyes? Unfit to be sitting in this chair, amongst so many future leaders and monarchs. Was he just... _useless_.

Toffee's old hurtful words hung in his heavy head, feeling like a stab to his brain and sending waves of pain to his guts. That's how Toffee always saw him, only using him for his own benefit. He had hoped that things were different now, that through his hard work he could help to bring change, but it seemed that was going to be harder than he intended. Before, he had thought the greatest challenge he would have to face was getting the Monsters to see the right way, but now there was a knew problem. How could he get others to believe in him or listen to him if they had already dismissed him as nothing, because they didn't think he belonged there?

If he belonged there at all, so far he didn't seem all that needed as the royals continued to discuss topic after topic without his help, occasionally shooting him a respectful but empty smile and he began to question his purpose there. He had thought he was useful to Star's commission but the more he thought about it the more he began to realize that he didn't really contribute anything of value other than knowing Star or being raised by Monsters. And were either of these things really enough to warrant him being a member of an esteemed commission like this. Sure he had helped to bring peace but that didn't guarantee he could help to uphold it.

Suddenly, Higgs's old rant entered into his head, unwelcome in his already fragile state of mind, but no matter what Marco did he couldn't get rid of it. He could still see her look of disgust as she spat out the insult at him, her green eyes so full of fury Marco was afraid she would lit him on fire with her mind or something. And even now, her word's of anger still hurt despite them making up. Mostly because he knew they held a dark layer of truth to them. Which was why as they continued to ring through his head over and over again during the rest of the meeting, repeating itself as if on loop almost as if it was demanding an answer, it only made him feel lower and more self-conscious as he began to fear those dreaded words. _What have you done to deserve any of the great things you've gotten._

And the scary things was... he still didn't know.

…

"Shhhh, here he comes," came a whispered voice from the dark interior of Buff Frog's country home.

"Oh boy, he's gonna be so surprised," a giddy voice giggled in glee.

"Ow, your standing on my foot!" came a sudden, loud yell, followed by more (almost as noisy) shushing, this time a large group of people it sounded like joining in.

"Quiet, idiot, your gonna give us away!" someone snapped.

"But he was standing on my sensitive bear paw," the voice from before whined in defense of himself.

"Well your gonna lose your bear paw if you don't _**shut up**_!" the other hissed.

But the sound of a doorknob being turned drew everyone's attention to the front door, as they all let out a collective gasp of anticipation. The door opened and a very disheartened Marco walked inside, his eyes lighting up some with confusion as he saw the dark, seemingly empty house before him. "Guys?"

"Surprise!" every Monster shouted as they jumped up out of nowhere, the lights flicking on, startling Marco to no end as he let out a high-pitched scream and jumped a full foot back, slamming into the front door and nearly sending him sprawling to the floor. He gasped and panted in shock, a hand to his racing heart as he looked at the members of his Monster family, save for Buff Frog, all of them giving him goofy, loving smiles. A sign behind clearly read, ' Congratulations, it's a boy!' but had been hastily scratched out with red ink and now said, 'Congratulations, _Marco on your new job_!'

"Congratulations on your first day as an official Monster representative, Marco!" Lobster Claws cheered, pumping his claws into the air excitedly.

"We are so proud of you!" Beard Deer exclaimed as well, ruffling the boy's hair a little as he gave him a wide grin.

But to their surprise, the boy merely gave them all a tight smile, his normally enthusiastic energy nonexistent as he just stared at the floor blankly. "Thanks guys," he said numbly, his voice cracking slightly as if he was fighting back whatever negative emotion was obviously plaguing him. The Monsters had all frozen in place, not sure what to do, and the boy looked over the petrified room for a second before asking in a monotone drone, "Where's Buff Frog?"

Was that what this was about? Beard Deer wondered. Was he upset that his dad wasn't there to greet him? He hoped that was all it was, concern for the child filling his chest and beginning to squeeze his insides.

"H-He had business in the eastern corner of Mewni," Bearicorn said hesitantly, watching the boy's every move for any shift in his emotional state. And seeing his face somehow fall even more and him muttering a very quiet, "Oh," the bear Monster quickly added, "Buuuttt he should be back soon." _I hope_ , he added in his head, as were the rest of the Monsters. As much as they loved Marco, they had virtually zero parental instincts and were far from equipped to handle these kind of situations. Normally their leader or Star would comfort Marco when he was in such a fragile emotional state, but since neither were there that task now fell onto the rest of them and they were at a collective loss of how to help the boy.

"That's fine," Marco whispered, his arms wrapping around his frame as if hugging himself.

"What's wrong, Marco?" Beard Deer asked, unable to take the boy's sorrowful state any longer without finding out the cause for it.

"Did something happen?" Lobster Claws pressed in a very worried tone. They had no idea what had gone on during the meeting, the footage not planned to be released until that evening.

"Are we all going to jail?" Bearicorn asked.

"Was the meeting that bad?" Boo Fly added.

And that seemed to set the teen off as he shouted, "No, everything went great, that's the whole problem!" The entire group of Monsters jumped at the sudden outburst, reeling back with shock and confusion over the boy's clear distress.

"W-What?" Beard Deer asked not understanding what the boy meant as they all just continued to stare.

Marco's eyes flooded with unshed tears and he then ran past the Monster and up the stairs toward his room. "Marco, where are you going?!" Spike Balls shouted after him in concern.

"I-I just want to be alone right now!" Marco yelled back, his voice hitching as a sob escaped his lips. There was the loud resounding sound of a door slamming shut, which caused the group of Monster's to jump once more as they stared helplessly at the staircase. The room grew unbearably silent for a few moments, an awkward atmosphere that left the Monster's shifting hesitantly on their feet.

"What was that about?" Lobster Claws finally asked, looking around at the other Monsters in hopes they had some kind of idea what was wrong with the boy but they clearly didn't.

"Don't know," Beard Deer said, his voice a quiet mutter. He didn't know what to make of the situation, that apparently Marco was upset... that everything was okay. It didn't make any sense. He could feel the others' stare on him, since he was the leader when Buff Frog was gone that meant he was the one to make the call on what to do, but for once he didn't have an answer. "I'll... go talk to him," he said softly, walking slowly up the stairs, still feeling about a dozen sets of eyes following his every move as he made his way to Marco's door.

He held a claw up, preparing to knock but hesitated for a second or two, sucking in a breath before willing his claw forward his knuckles wrapping on the firm wood. "Marco?"

"I don't want to talk right now!" came the immediate reply, his tear-soaked voice tugging at Beard Deer's heartstrings. He looked over to see the rest of the Monsters gathered on the staircase with the same sorrowful expression he had on.

"Marco, come on I'm sure whatever is wrong isn't that bad," Beard Deer tried weakly. He really didn't know what he was doing. A sudden fear ran through him though as he asked nervously, "This isn't about us, right?"

"Did we do something wrong?" Lobster Claws asked.

There was a distinct sniff from the other side of the door, before the boy's miserable voice squeaked out, "No, you guys are fine."

The Monsters collectively released a sigh of relief, thankful they hadn't unintentionally hurt Marco's feelings. "Well then what is it?" Beard Deer asked and the boy didn't answer. "Marco, please come out so that we can talk this out," the deer Monster pressed, hoping he wasn't pushing the boy too far. When he still got no answer he decided to try a different tactic, saying, "Do you want us to call Star so you can talk to her instead?"

"I-I'm s-sorry, but I d-don't w-want to s-see anyone right n-now," Marco replied, chocking on sobs every other word.

Beard Deer gave his fellow Monsters a grimace, which the others returned, and he shrugged letting them know that he was now out of ideas. But it seemed none of the others had any clue either so he just let out a sigh, hesitantly saying, "Okay then, Marco. If you change your mind, we'll be waiting downstairs." There was no reply at all, the sealed-off room completely silent as the Monsters made their way downstairs. They all sat around for several minutes, casting anxious glances up at the second story, worry for their youngest filling all of them with dread and uncertainty.

Beard Deer, after few moments of uncomfortable contemplation, finally reached into his pocket and pulled out his mirror phone and telling it, "Call Buff Frog."

"Calling Buff Frog," the computer voice complied, the phone ringing and ringing as the Monster's waited with held breath for their boss to answer and come to their rescue. Finally they heard a familiar accent saying, "Hello, this is Yvgeny Bulgolyubov."

"Oh thank corn, boss!" Beard Deer exclaimed in relief. "Marco is-"

"Cannot come to phone right now," the voicemail continued. "Please leave message after annoying beeping sound." The beep sounded and for a few seconds Beard Deer just stood perfectly rigid, his eyes wide and unblinking and his body as stiff as a board to the point the others began to fear for his safety.

"Uh, Beard Deer, you okay?" Lobster Claws asked, but his answer was completely unexpected as the deer Monster suddenly released a murderous growl and slammed the phone against the wall smashing it into a thousand pieces, the two headed Monster having to duck to avoid getting hit. "Hey, that was uncalled for," one of the head's whined, while the other just nodded in agreement, crossing their arms in annoyance.

"No, I'm not okay!" Beard Deer screamed. "Marco is hiding in his room and won't talk to us or tell us why! How do you think I'm doing, idiot?!"

"Geez, sorry," Lobster Claws quickly muttered, holding his claws up in surrender while the second-in-command just panted and growled in growing frustration.

"So what should we do for now, until Buff Frog gets back?" Spike Balls asked.

"Yeah we should do something right, we can't just leave Marco like that," Bearicorn said, determined to help the young one cheer up.

"Marco zzzaid he didn't want to be dizzturbed," Boo Fly pointed out. "We zzhould rezzpect hizz wizzhez."

The others all hung their head at that, not sure how to argue with that causing them to hate it all the more. "Okay, I guess if that's what he wants then... that's what we'll have to do," Lobster Claws muttered bitterly.

"Look none of us want to do that," Beard Deer said, trying to soothe the others. "But if that's what Marco needs than so help me that is what he is going to get." He slammed a claw into his fist as his eyebrows narrowed in resolve. "So until Marco says otherwise, nobody goes into his room, end of story."

"Right!" the other Monsters shouted as one, nodding in agreement with their temporary leader.

For the next half-hour the Monsters all just sat around, waiting for either Buff Frog to get back or Marco to exit his room, neither of which happened. The mood in the room was a depressing one, every single Monster worried for their child and having to fight the overwhelming urge to run into the room and comfort him. Many tried to get their minds off of the young boy upstairs but, no matter what, it seemed the Monsters eyes were constantly drawn to the second story of the cozy cottage as they continued to cast worried stares in that direction every few seconds.

Finally, Beard Deer heard the tell-tale sound of a portal opening outside, followed by footprints and he shushed the other Monsters, informing everyone, "Quiet, someone's here!"

"Do you think Buff Frog is back?" Lobster Claws asked hopefully.

But as if on cue the crustacean's hope was dashed, as a familiar bubbly voice instead called out, "Oh, Marcooo?" The Monsters all shared a grimace as they recognized the visitor as none other than Star Butterfly, her cheery voice practically a sing-song as she shouted her boyfriend's name. They knew the princess would want to see Marco, especially if she found out something was wrong with him, but they had already promised to keep visitors away while the boy was recovering, meaning that they would have to somehow get rid of her.

"Quick, do something?!" Beard Deer shouted to the others, who all looked around lost.

"Like what?" Man Arm asked with a shrug.

"I don't know, anything! we have to keep her away from Marco!" the deer Monster hissed in response.

"Uh, okay, Potato Baby, go distract her!" Lobster Claws said to his friend, who gave a garble of surprise, pointing at himself in confusion. "Oh right, forgot she can't understand you," the crustacean replied sheepishly, his eyes scanning the room of Monsters. "Anyone else want to-"

There was a knock on the front door, as Star's voice rang out once again, "Hello, Marco? Buff Frog? Anyone home?" The Monsters all panicked, Beard Deer shoving Bearicorn to the door, telling him in a violent whisper, "Say something, idiot!"

The bear stumbled, before looking back at his leader with a lost look. "Like what?"

"I don't know, just make something up!" Beard Deer quietly demanded.

"Ummm, nobodies home," Bearicorn finally said, Star asking from the other side of the door, "What?"

The Monsters all face-palmed at that, while the bear Monster attempted to correct his mistake, stumbling out, "Uhhh, what I mean is- um, I'm the only one here. Just me, Bearicorn and no one else."

There was a pause from outside the door followed by a knob being turned, Star saying suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

Bearicorn quickly moved in front of the door, using his paw to stop it from being opened further and trying to block the wide-eyed Star off from seeing inside the cottage. "Nope, nobody here but us bears, ha ha." The Monster let out a nervous laugh, which caused Star's eyebrow to raise, clearly not buying the lie. It seemed she now knew where exactly Marco got his own inability to lie from. The difference here was that when Marco did it she found it cute and endearing, now she found it infuriating as it was being used to block her way to her Marco and that was something she wouldn't stand for. So rather than play along, she cut straight to the point, saying in an almost dangerous tone, "Look Bearicorn, I know you're lying to me because Marco specifically told me this was where he would be after the meeting and since I _know_ for a fact that he's not at the castle than he has to be here. So whatever the reason is you've decided to keep me from going inside to see him, I suggest you move. Now."

The last word was spoken with such conviction that Bearicorn gulped and immediately backed away, allowing the girl inside, fearing for his life as he let out a quiet, near silent, "O-Okay." Once Star was inside, she looked around at all the startled Monsters watching her intensely as if waiting for her to suddenly attack them and asked, "Okay, what's going on? Why are you guys being weird and trying to keep me out of the house? Did something happen that I should know about?" Her hands were on her hips as she waited for an answer from the skittish Monsters, who all refused to look her way.

"Guyyyssss?" she pressed, using all her powers of persuasion to get the information she wanted. "Does this have to do with Marco?"

That seemed to be enough to break them as Lobster Claws suddenly blurted out, "Marco's upset!"

"What?!" Star shouted in surprise, not expecting to hear that out of nowhere. "Why what's wrong, what happened?" she asked in concern, her eyes full of worry for the boy.

"We don't know, he said he didn't want to talk about it and stormed up to his room and locked himself in," Beard Deer explained to the perplexed Star.

"We were kinda hoping you would know, actually," Bearicorn said sheepishly, giving her a hopeful look.

Star reluctantly shook her head. "I have no idea," she admitted with a small shrug. "He seemed fine during the meeting and I can't think of anything that could have upset him before then." She looked up at the Monsters with a now questioning look as she asked, "Did you try and ask him what was wrong?"

Beard Deer rolled his eyes. "We're not idiots Star, of course we did," the Monster grumbled, clearly offended by her lack of faith in their ability to take care of the child. "Like I said, he didn't want to talk about it."

"Yes, which was Marco's way of saying he _needed_ to talk about it," Star countered, giving them all a hard stare.

The Monsters all shared a perplexed look, several scratching their heads in clear confusion, Lobster Claws asking, "Really?"

"Well then why didn't he juzzt zzay that?" Boo Fly asked.

Star let out a sigh and covered her face with her hands. "Because teenagers never say how they're really feeling when their upset," she explained, leaving the Monsters even more lost than before, the girl practically able to see the gears turning in their heads as they tried to process this information. "You guys don't know anything about teenagers, do you?" Star asked and their sheepish faces were telling enough to the truth. She would normally find it funny that a group of once dangerous killers had now turned into befuddled buffoons as they tried to wrap their heads around the complicated concept that was the teenage mind, but she was too worried about Marco to think of much else.

So instead, Star frowned still trying to think of what could be upsetting the boy with no luck. "Well I better go talk to him," she said taking a step forward only to be cut off by Beard Deer who moved in her way.

"Wait, Marco said he didn't want to see anyone right now!" Beard Deer said in panic.

"Which is why I need to see him," Star pushed, taking another step toward the stairs, uncaring of the Monster in her path, expecting him to move but was surprised when he did not. "Look Marco is up there right now, probably crying and I'm not just gonna stand here and wait for him to get better on his own," Star said, the unwavering resolve in her tone causing Beard Deer to sway some, but he held firm as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Star, but we all agreed to give Marco his space while he figures this out, we can't push him when he doesn't want to talk about it," the Monster replied.

"I'm not going to push him," Star argued. "I just don't want him to suffer alone, I want to be there to comfort him."

The Monsters' faces seemed to soften from that, Beard Deer opening his mouth to say something to the girl, but Star wasn't taking any chances as she shouted out, "Glitter Discoball Distraction!" There was a flash of pink light and a second later a giant discoball hung from the center of the room, spinning wildly and sending colors everywhere, the Monsters gazing up at it in awe. Star used the second of hesitation to push past the deer Monster and run up the flight of stairs. Beard Deer recovered quickly, shaking his head clear of the hallucinating allure of the floating ball and chasing after the girl, who at this point had reached Marco's door. She knocked on it once, saying, "Marco, it's Star, can I come in?"

Beard Deer reached the top of the stairs just in time to hear this and shouted in panic, "No wait, Star don't-"

"Okay," a small voice said from the other side of the thin wood and the blond royal quickly obeyed entering inside, leaving a slack-jawed Beard Deer standing awkwardly in the hallway.

Once inside, Star did a quick survey of the room, or what she could see of it. The room was completely in the dark, the curtains to the large window pulled tightly closed and no other light source was on, making it hard to make out any features. This instantly concerned Star knowing Marco hated the dark, not out of fear for it but out of bad memories of it, his old room growing up under Toffee's rule always dreary and devoid of much, if any, light causing him to grow a strong distaste for any rooms lacking a strong, positive light source. His room in the castle was always full of light, Marco leaving the window open at all times, even at night to allow as much light to bath his room as possible and Buff Frog and the others had made sure to give Marco the same luxury at their home as well. So the fact that he had intentionally closed the curtains and allowed himself to sit in inky blackness for a long period of time was a major tipping off point for Star.

She didn't wait for her eyes to adjust as she stumbled forward into the room, remembering after a second to use her want to light up the room as she searched for her bestie. She found his form leaning against his bedpost, his legs drawn up to his chest and his face buried in his knees. Star approached tenderly, making sure to take slow, steady steps over to her boyfriend, as she examined his form. Which was quite difficult to do since he had pulled his hood up to try and hide his face. Star spotted the pair of glasses he had worn earlier sitting next to him. She sat down in front of him, just listening to his shallow breathing for a moment, before softly saying, "Marco."

The boy tensed up, his hold on his legs increasing slightly and Star felt her heart ache at the sight of him looking so troubled and upset. She wanted to wrap him up in a tight hug and will all his worries and fears away but she wasn't sure that would be the right action right now, she needed to understand what was upsetting him first so she could begin to help him. "What's wrong, do you want to talk about it?"

Marco shook his head, his breath hitching but to her surprise he answered, seemingly needing to get the weight off his chest. "Am I... a real member."

Star was surprised by this, her eyes widening as she blurted out, "Of course you are, Marco. I gave you your official title remember?"

Marco finally looked up, matching her gaze with blood-shot eyes, tear stains coating his cheeks. "Yeah I know but everyone thinks that's only because we're dating."

Star was surprised to hear this, quickly asking, "What, who told you that?"

"Ferguson," Marco muttered dejectedly and Star frowned. She was going to have a talk with that boy after this.

"Look, Marco you know that's not true," Star began, her voice light and comforting. "I made you the Monster representative because I believed in you and knew that no one could do this job better than you, not because your my boyfriend. Remember what we talked about after the Ludo incident? You brought peace to Mewni, you deserve this spot."

"I know but the others don't see it that way," Marco said, sniffing as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. "They think I'm a joke, that I don't really belong here. And... maybe their right, I mean everyone is always being so nice to me and everything but I don't understand why. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate it but the Monsters, you, Jackie, Janna, even my own parents, everyone is always making sacrifices to help me and I just don't see what I ever did to deserve it."

Star stared deep into Marco's sad, self-conscious eyes for a moment, feeling the guilt and overwhelming responsibility that was weighing so heavily on his mind, unable to believe that he would be questioning himself to this degree. The answer to her was so simple that she was generally caught off-guard that the boy wouldn't be able to see the same. She tried to project her feelings onto him using their shared bond, to let him know just how deeply she cared for him, as she answered his question with the most honest answer she had, "Everything."

"Huh?" the boy said, his eyebrows pinching together in confusion.

"You did everything to deserve it," Star said, so much love and tenderness in her tone that it caused new tears to spring up in Marco's eyes, feeling a small flickering in his heart, one that made his insides flutter and his heart skip a beat. "I know you doubt yourself sometimes but believe me when I say that you are so much more important than you give yourself credit for. You changed my life, Marco. Before I met you, I hated my life. I was overwhelmed and stressed and sad and I didn't think anything could ever make it all okay. But then I met you." Star and Marco's cheeks blushed at almost the exact same time at this declaration, the girl grabbing the boy's hand in hers and holding it to her chest in a loving embrace, her eyes twinkling brighter than a thousand stars, small unshed tears making her eyes glassy. "You helped put my life back together, Marco. You gave me purpose and brought joy back into my life again. Without you, I don't even want to think of where I'd be."

"Same here," Marco's small voice squeaked out and Star gave him a loving smile. "I owe a lot to you, Star. You gave me a new life and a future and so many other things that I don't think I could name them all. I just... wanted to repay you for that."

"You already did," Star told him as the two stared deeply into each others eyes. "The truth is Marco I used to think that I was the light of Mewni, that I had to be there to help people through the darkness, that I was supposed to be some kind of... shining star, for lack of a better word. But when I met you, I realized something."

"What's that?" Marco asked curiously, his voice small but steady.

Star gave him a long look, the boy able to feel her fast-beating heart from beneath his fingertips as she answered in a choked tone, "That you're _my_ light, Marco." The boy's suns began to spin wildly at this, his voice hitching as he fought back tears once more. "And I'm yours. That's why we need each other. That's why I made you a member. I didn't do it for no reason, I did it because of how special and qualified you are. You know I wouldn't have made you a member if I didn't think you had what it takes. And trust me, no one has earned that job more than you and I know you have what it takes to be the best representative ever!"

Marco gave her a shy smile, his entire face so red at this point that it could hardly be deciphered from his own hoodie. "But what about the others? You may believe in me but... no one else does."

Star reached over and pulled off his hood, trying not to admire the way his hair looked in its adorably disheveled state from being tucked under his hood so long, keeping her focus and gaze under his bright, questioning orbs as she cupped his cheek in her hands. "Then prove them wrong," she said her tone strong and confident and it filled Marco up with hope. "Show them just how awesome and cool the Marco I know and love is. Do something only you can do."

"Something only I can do," Marco repeated softly to himself, thinking over his girlfriend's words.

"Yeah, you got this, Marco, I believe in you," Star said, cheering her Marco on as she picked up the pair of glasses laying next to him. She gently slid them slowly back onto his face, staring deep into those wondrous chocolate brown eyes she had grown to adore as she said in a soft, tender tone, "I know my Dr. Marco will find a way through this, just like he always does."

Marco pulled Star closer to him, pressing his lips against hers in thanks, as the two were lost in a breathless kiss. After a few seconds the two pulled away, both panting as Marco said in a joyful tone once more, "Thank you, Star. I'm... gonna make you proud."

Star giggled as she rested her head against his shoulder, holding him in a tight embrace. She turned whispered softly into his ear, "I already am. Now it's time to make yourself proud."

Marco nodded, squeezing the girl softly as his heart rate picked up, a determination filling his core. Star was right, he would find a way to prove himself, somehow. His brain was going a million miles a minute as he began to think up a plan, a plan that only he could accomplish and one that he was sure would work. He was gonna show them all what exactly Marco Diaz could do.

And with that the hooded teen felt a small unfamiliar stirring in the pit of his stomach, a new feeling beginning to take shape inside him, an inkling of an emotion, a flicker of self-worth. He was unfamiliar with this almost nonexistent emotion, only feeling it it in small bits and pieces whenever someone would compliment him, but now this wasn't coming from someone's words, it was coming from him. It wasn't much right now but with time he would continue to nurture and grow it into fruition, until someday it would feel as normal and natural to him as breathing.

"I will," he said confidently, his voice stronger than he expected it to be. His hold on his Star never lightening as he declared to the blond royal, as well as himself, "Just wait and see."

…

Buff Frog hummed a tune as he walked along the path leading to his home, a bright smile on his face as he ascended the steps to the door. He couldn't wait to see Marco and ask his son how his day had gone, knowing the boy had planned to meet up there after everything was over. He had been silently wishing him luck, praying to all the powers that be that his meeting went well, but feeling hopeful that all was alright and that his son and his girlfriend had handled things just fine.

But as he opened the door, his smile dropped, the song dying on his lips, switching to shock as he saw the large discoball still hovering in the air. But although this sight was peculiar and unexpected, seeing all the Monsters standing around nervously, their gaze on the upstairs staircase, he quickly feared the worst at once, especially when he didn't see Marco in the crowd. "What is wrong?" the frog asked immediately and every Monster turned to him flabbergasted, clearly too focused on whatever they were staring at to hear him enter.

"Oh Buff Frog are we ever glad to see you," Lobster Claws said in relief.

"Where is Marco? What happened?" Buff Frog asked, taking quick survey of the room, his eyes hesitating on the magical glass ball above him. "And why is there giant hanging light in house?"

The Monsters all shared a look, before they all began speaking at once, their voices blending together and making it impossible for the amphibian to understand a single one of them. He raised up a hand, silencing them all instantly, before saying, "Please, one at a time."

"Okay, well, first Marco showed up at the house while you weren't here," Lobster Claws began, a different Monster continued.

"And then he was all upset about something and we didn't know what to do," the two-headed Monster's left head exclaimed, the right nodding in agreement.

Potato Baby garbled something for a few seconds, before a different Monster picked up the story in his place.

"And so then Marco ran off into his room and told us he wanted to be alone," Spike Balls continued.

"Did you try and talk to him?" Buff Frog asked and the Monsters all shared a sheepish look.

"Um, wellllll..." Man Arm muttered tapping his clawed and human fingers together ashamedly.

"You didn't did you?" the frog asked and the Monsters all shared a look.

"Yeah but he said he didn't want to talk to anyone!" Beard Deer exclaimed defensively.

"Yes and that was his way of asking for help," Buff Frog explained, the Monsters all looking at him in shock.

"That doesn't make any sense," Bearicorn pointed out.

The amphibian chuckled at that, putting a claw on his friend's shoulder. "Welcome to raising teenager." The Monsters were silent after that, not knowing how to respond and so Buff Frog asked them in a serious tone, "So is Marco still alone in room?"

"No Zzztar izz in there with him," Boo Fly said and the Monster nodded approvingly.

"Good, then should be nothing to worry about," the Monster leader said, the others all sharing guilty looks, Potato Baby garbling something to Lobster Claws.

"No, I don't think we should tell him about that, either," Lobster Claws whispered back to his friend.

"So wait, your telling us that when Marco said he didn't want to talk about it, that that meant that he did want to talk about it," Beard Deer asked in confusion, his brain spinning as he tried to make sense of it all. "And that when he said that nothing was wrong, there was something wrong. And when he said he wanted to be alone that meant he wanted someone to comfort him."

"Da," Buff Frog replied nonchalantly.

"So basically the opposite of what he really meant," Beard Deer asked for clarity, putting his claws together for emphasis.

"Pretty much, that is correct," Buff Frog said.

There was a pause, the two Monsters just sharing a long look. "Teenagers are confusing," Beard Deer suddenly groaned, giving up on trying to understand Marco's complicated mind-set.

"Is true," Buff Frog said to his friend, talking a step closer and patting his shoulder. "Parenting can be very hard, but also very rewarding, too."

"Maybe we'll just let you stick to the parenting for a while," Bearicorn grumbled.

The sound of the door opening upstairs, drew everyone's attention as they all looked up at the stairs with held breath. After a few intense, never-wracking seconds the two teens appeared at the top of the staircase, a smile now on Marco's face as he held Star's hand in his. "Hey, guys," Marco greeted them in his usual cheeriness. Every Monster let out a visible breath of relief to see the boy recovered from whatever had troubled him so and back to normal once more. The two Mewmans shared a look before descending the stairs, still hand in hand.

"Are you okay, now, Marco?" Spike Balls asked, his voice still ringing in concern.

"We were really worried about you," Lobster Claws admitted.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, sorry for worrying you all," Marco said once he was at the bottom of the stairs, giving his girlfriend a quick grin. "Star helped cheer me up."

"Are you really okay or are you just saying that?" the right-headed Monster asked.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Marco asked and the Monsters all shared a look of confusion and concern, feeling like they had just messed up once again.

"What Monsters mean to say is," Buff Frog took over before his comrades could make things any worse. He bent down so he was level with the boy, putting a claw on the top of his frizzy hair. "Is whatever you worrying about solved now?"

Marco nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I was just feeling insecure is all," Marco explained, his eyes full of pain for a second and Buff Frog's heart went out to his son. But the boy quickly shook his head, a confidence shining in his eyes once more, as he clenched his fist in determination. "But I'm ready to move forward. No worries or doubts. I can do this if I just give it my all."

Buff Frog gave a hearty chuckle, ruffling the boy's hair like Beard Deer always did. "I sure you will." He stood back up, his smile never leaving his lips as the amphibian asked, "But in meantime, how about cake to celebrate first day?"

"Yes please!" both Star and Marco said at the same time. They shared a quick look, before laughing out loud at their synchronized sentence.

A few minutes later the atmosphere in the cottage had returned to normal as everyone settled down and enjoyed their own slices of the large chocolate cake, Star and Marco sat at the couch, hand in hand as they both described the meeting in detail and how it had gone to the curious Monsters between bites of the tasty treat.

"So then you guys are working on giving the Monster's more rights?" Lobster Claws asked and Star nodded.

"Yeah, that's the plan anyway. Right now it's mostly just a bunch of us throwing ideas out there and while some of them are good, I'm just not sure how much they'll really help in the long run."

"Funny you should mention that," Marco said softly and everyone's eyes jumped to him. He took a bite of his cake, clearly trying to act nonchalant and not look like he was hiding something, but this only caused him to be super conspicuous, clearly only pretending to be oblivious.

"What?" Star asked, giving him a tiny nudge with her elbow. "You got some kind of plan."

"Mayyyybbbeee," Marco said slowly, a small smile on his face, clearly lying.

Star raised a playful eyebrow and he cracked, tapping his plate absentmindedly with his fork as he explained, "I was thinking about what we talked about, about me doing something only I can do, and I think I have an idea of what that could be."

Star leaned closer, setting her plate aside as she leaned on her elbows, giving him all the attention in the world. "Well then, by all means, Marco. Please go on."

"Yeah, we're all ears, aren't we guys?" Bearicorn said and the other Monsters all nodding waiting for him to continue, most looking like they were on the edge of their seat.

Marco let out a small chuckle, smiling at his girlfriend and family members, their love and support fueling his resolve even more and he felt the small spark of self-worth grow just a bit more. He sucked in a deep breath before strongly and confidently telling them all his one-of-a-kind, self-concocted idea.

 **Haven't had a cliffhanger in a while. Soooo yeah sorry to leave you guys hanging but I thought it would be a better idea to leave it open for the next one where Marco launches operation: [spoiler!]. Oh guess I can't say the name without giving it away. But yeah, this one was fun, having the entire commission present was a lot of characters to juggle at once and honestly I really got into their personalities. To be honest, most of them won't be in it a whole bunch, but it was fun to play around with some new characters.**

 **This chapter was planned from the beginning, but the end product is quite a bit different mostly because my original concept pre-dated season 3 so most of the members were characters from Earth, Mewni-fied, like Jeremy and Brittney. But since the show had already presented me these characters I thought what the heck, let me just use these guys instead. Marco getting insecure was already planned to be in it though, that was the same, just most of the members were different originally. Also what kingdom is Jaggy Jags from cause I tried to look it up and I couldn't find anything talking about it. She looks kinda like a Monster and I almost removed her from the end product because of it. Just if anyone knows, please tell me. Heard Daron Nefcy and a couple other Star vs people did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit. Man, if I could go back in time I would oddly ask her this question cause it's really starting to bug me.**

 **Okay, so ramblings aside, I just wanted to casually mention that my birthday is coming up soon, no big deal. *cough, cough* August 29th to be exact *cough, cough* Sorry something in my throat. Anyways I was hoping to get a new one out by then but that isn't looking like that's gonna happen at this point. :( *sighs* Oh well, regardless I will still be hard at work on the new one and honestly having over 300 followers and nearly that many favorites is kinda a good enough birthday present for me! I am seriously so lucky to be writing for you guys, you are all amazing! Okay better move on to the comments before I go full sap mode again. I will see you all next time, bye!**

 **Gamelover41592- Thank you! :) And yeah I try not to shy away from other characters fears and worries and try to flesh as many of them out as I can. Daisy's was my favorite I didn't expect to go into why she is so afraid of Monsters but once I had I loved how it turned out. And yeah I have to put as much Starco moments into my story as I can, I just can't resist making them naturally cute and adorable together.**

 **viveversa96- Hehe sorry for giving you two diabetes with the sweetness this chapter, I should probably put a disclaimer somewhere... *Disclaimer!* Some chapters can contain intense amounts of cute Starco moments, please read at your own risk! There we go, better! Haha, to be honest I was drinking water right with you, it was almost to sweet for me. I try to put in as much fluff in as I can and this was the perfect opportunity to go all out with it! Hehe, thank you, I try.**

 **Haha, well thanks for jumping to my defense here! To be honest, I don't think they believe Star and Marco are 100% different from their counterparts but rather don't care as much for the changes I did make to their personalities. I can't blame anyone for it, after all I love cannon Star and Marco as much as the next person and they are entitled to their opinion after all, I won't call them wrong for feeling this way. For me, I wanted to give them a different take from the show and tried morphing their personalities into what they are now, keeping some traits, changing others, highlighting or downgrading certain aspects of who they are based on their life experiences. It was sorta a rocky road at the start of the process but I really like how they turned out.**

 **Star is still herself for sure, just a more matured version who knows when to let her bubbly, rebel side show. It's funny how this turned out because Season 3 wasn't out yet when I made this change so I was kinda proud of how I guessed where the show was going with her, having her mature and try and become a better princess in later seasons. Haha, great minds think alike I guess... that or I secretly snuck into Disney to discover where the show was going before it came out and this was actually just an elaborate leak for the last two seasons. Or just a coincidence, haha. Marco is probably the most different of the two but I did try and keep parts of him intact, things that wouldn't change due to his past like what you mentioned. And yes he is the more organized, he does keep his socks color coded while Star just throws them in her draw willy-nilly! And yes it wouldn't be Starco if they didn't balance each other out and help make them the best version of themselves possible! This is what I love most about Starco, how they bring out the best in each other and I don't think that would ever change now matter how different they are to the show.**

 **Well thank your for saying so! They are intentionally different but to call them OOC is just not the point of what I was trying to do. Yeah, I try to include some moments I think the original dorks would have, after all Starco is still Starco right? Thanks again! ;P And you two do the same!**

 **lookingforentertainment- haha, yeah I loved that joke too. The Monsters are just too much fun to play with! Also the deleted scene for that chapter was the cactus suddenly landing on Ludo and crushing him under its weight! XD**

 **Xzbro- Marco: But we do already have our own rooms. I have two actually.**

 **Star: Not what he meant, Marco.**

 **Come on, you know you love it. They can't help but be lovey-dovey in public and not care who is watching. *gestures to Star and Marco who are now making out once again* See... they can't keep their hands off each other.**

 **Radpoison101- Haha, thanks! I do too!**

 **jaffa3- You are not the only one, friend. I'm starting to think I need to have a medical kit in case of overexposure to sweetness due to reading my fluffy chapters. Yeah it was a subtler moment but one that I couldn't resist including. If the twins keep this up they will have to open a candy shop. XD They are just kinda an endless source of cuteness for me.**

 **Don't apologize I don't mind answering your questions no matter what they are (that is kinda the advantage of doing comment responses). I have gotten this one before and I'm not really that surprised since she does serve such a big role in the later seasons. Well all I can say without spoiling is that she will be in it, yes. Which is more than I answer for most since I usually dodge the question, but what the heck, it's not like I can just ignore such an important character from the show. *Mina waving arms wildly from the background, only to be ignored* Yep, wouldn't want to do that.**

 **Haha, thank you so much, I hope you enjoy the new one!**

 **RJWritingInk- Well thank you for being understanding, sometimes life is too important and writing has to take a backseat. It's sad but true. Anyways, rest assured, I won't give up on this story so I guess neither of us have anything to worry about. To be honest, when you mentioned I posted every 2-3 weeks in your review I was like, "Ha, I wish that was true" I usually get them out after my scheduled time, sometimes a week or more after I say. It is hard to judge just how long it will take me or how busy things will be during that time but I do my best. So the fact that people are still supportive of me and my writing is just amazing! I'm slow sometimes but that's only because I am taking care that the chapter is up to standard.**

 **You are so welcome, it was the least I could do! The moment I read your review I knew I had to return the favor! Your work is just too good to go unnoticed!**

 **Bedrock Armor- I'm more of a root bear fan myself! I'm mostly turned off Mountain Dew or Sprite or any of those because I drank a big bottle of it when I was sick one time and now it just reminds me of trying not to throw up. As for alcohol I just don't think I need it in my life, I'm perfectly fine without it. Besides I've heard the same thing, like it apparently burns on the way down, yuck! I guess people only drink it for the buzz they get afterwards which I just have no interest in experiencing honestly.**

 **To ere is human they say. Thanks for being understanding. Haha, oh man that sucks! If I had a nickel for every time I read over my story and was like, "How did I not notice that was misspelled?!" Usually they don't bother me as I know I am doing these for fun and mistakes are bound to happen. Every so often I will see one though that will leave me slamming my head in my desk for how obvious it was and how easy it should have been to spot it.**

 **It depends for me, my writing works best at two points of time, when I first wake up or late at night and believe me both of these clash sometimes. If I am too exhausted to the point I can't think than no writing gets done but generally I get a burst of inspiration at like 2 in the morning which kinda sucks since I have to try and work around this schedule. So yeah, sporadic and crazy sleeping schedule for me too amigo. Haha, honestly when I wrote that I was super beyond tired because I was having trouble sleeping over being worried about my driving test coming up. Man I hate anxiety, it can get me over the stupidest things sometimes.**

 **Oh that's good. I checked it out and yeah it was really well made. Though it was funny him not knowing what Star vs was. "Is it anime?" Well the short answer is no buttttt...**

 **Shiranai Atsune- Yeepppp! A new fluffy chapter for you to enjoy! Glad you liked it and the story in general! Hope you like this one as well!**

 **Sugar- Yeah, I'm glad I went more in depth and made her fear justified, the young child mind can have trouble understanding things already and be super impressionable, so being told one thing and then jumping to another left her confused and with her sister teasing her that only complicated matters. Yeah, they're aren't, are there? Marco's got like a million father figures but no mom in his life, huh. No wonder he clings to things his mom like more than his dads. Omg now I really want to ship Daisy with a Monster. Hang on, got to add that to the list of things I need to include. I will find a way to sneak it in somewhere. Violet would totally end up with a Monster but both twins doing that is just precious. Haha, Buff Frog had them properly sealed so they were fine. The twins even got to enjoy some delicious smile dip. XD Okay seriously what is it with Disney cartoons and making references to drugs? They are also not usually done in a PSA sorta way, where the show goes out of its way to be like "drugs are bad kids" instead the Goblin Dogs episode ended with everyone enjoying them and wanting to have more in the future. What are you trying to say, Disney?**

 **Yeah, I see your point there. I was afraid you would be upset by having no pay off for the build up but I just didn't see Marco in a hurry to worry his father over something like that so soon after the Toffee incident. I also tried to better explain it in the chapter as Starco worrying that Buff Frog would overreact and possibly separate the two but yeah I admit it was sorta a weak reason to keep it from him. Or maybe they were just too desensitized to evil murdering lizard Monsters that they thought it was no worse than having a cold or soemthing, hahaha. XD And yeah I'm glad I had them go ahead and fess up. I almost had him be like, "You don't have to tell me" and their response was, "Okay, we won't." Man would we be having a different conversation if I had. Sorry I couldn't resist the joke, hahaha. I try very hard to keep this as kid-friendly as possible but since my age rating is teen I thought I could get away with a subtle joke like that. And as you pointed out it's not like the show didn't make little hints like that. Don't worry I don't plan on including those in very much but my thought process was the same as yours, an adult joke that kids won't catch till their older. Don't worry I cleansed the chapter first just in case any M rated spirits tried to take over, haha. Now I'm really glad I cut the chapter I originally where Star and Marco are caught cuddling in bed together and people assume the worst leading to him and Buff Frog having to have the talk. Not joking that was a chapter I debated making where I pushed that teen rating to its limit. I wouldn't have been explicit or anything but this is literally the only remnant left of that idea, so glad I came to my sense beforehand, huh?**

 **Fellow Pony fan, great those are sorely lacking as of late. I should make a club for people who still like Pony Head, I bet I wouldn't get that many members though.**

 **Yeah, thank you, though I wanted this one to be more of a fluff chapter I didn't to shy away from my usual brand of drama and the character interactions were _really_ fun. It was nice to explore relationships outside of just Starco and parental figures moments are some of my favorite to write so this one was like a breath of fresh air for me. And yeah it was nice to have the twins so more than just comically fight all the time. Though they have their differences they are still sisters after all and have a connection that makes the two closer than they let on. **

**Um, I'm not sure, good question. I hadn't really planned on it but we'll see. It would be cool to see and yeah I can imagine one of them being nervous about going on the date so Marco, the twins and the other Monsters decide to try and "help". Haha, that would be fun to explore, I'll keeping thinking on that. As for Marco and Tom, you know I already have Marco helping buddy get the girl of his dreams is already a chapter planned. Though, Marco helping Tad make up with Kelly after a fight and Tom just observing would be hilarious!**

 **Yeah I couldn't help myself, I needed more Starco kisses in my life. I may have gone a bit overboard for this one though. And they needed it too, they were feeling deprived of each other in that one so they kissed every chance they could get to make up for it. I will take your advice going forward, though, minimize the number of kisses and instead highlight the other moments the two share. I agree kisses should be like treats and I will try and spread them out more going forward. Not that I ever expected anyone to get tired of them but I don't want to wear them out too fast and this way I can make the ones they do get all the more special and give them something to look forward to and hoping for.**

 **So yeah, thanks for the tip. And man do I plan on playing with Janna and Tom later, hehehe. ;D**

 **Yeah this one was just a nice fluffy chapter to help fill us all with good feelings going forward. It was fun to just have them relaxing and being cute together. Jantom will be contrast for sure, more teasing and probably more intense than Starco is. They will definitely be the couple that is less about being cute friends and more about passionate feelings and love. I will still try and keep it age appropriate but I see theirs being more intense romance than our cute dorks. And yeah Kelltad are essentially a married couple in mine, so close and inseparable they are basically the same person. I'm glad people accepted these two as a ship on her since in the show they are supposed to be so toxic. But taking the on-again, off-again relationship out of the mix they actually can work as a functioning couple.**

 **Yes I have heard of Miraculous and am a 100% Adrinette shipper. They are so cute together and I love their sweet little romance. They are just too dorks hopelessly in love and totally oblivious to the truth. I think what I like most though is when we get to see just Marinette and Adrien interacting because their friendship is just so cute and I love watching them interact out of costume. I just hope the show gives us some time to enjoy them as a cannon couple before it ends. I haven't heard of Regal Academy but I will definitely check it out. A show I love with a good strong couple is a French series called Wakfu. The big couple in that show are two of the mains who start off as your typical boy has crush on girl who doesn't return feelings at first but as the show goes on and they grow closer they turn into a strong and very cute couple. What I especially like is that in season two they are an official couple so we get to see them in love and just being together and it was such a nice change of pace that I couldn't help but fall for them completely. I don't know if they have a Spanish version but if you can find it is definitely worth the watch.**

 **Anyways thanks for the review as always and for the kind words and advice!**

 **Monkey lover 911- Well of course not, I may write my fair share of drama and angst but I could never hurt that sweet baby girl. Just give her a good scare to help her realize the error of her ways and accept the Monsters as good. No, probably not. He was hired by Heinous and he has a code to abide by that keeps him from working for someone else when he still has a job to do. Unless of course Ludo and Heinous teamed up, but that probably won't happen. Or will it! No, it won't. Haha, thank you, I will. Aww, stop it, your making me blush. ^/^**

 **DC the cat- Glad you like it so far! Yeah I really went full fluff for this one. I needed a fluffy chapter and this was just the perfect fit for me. Yeah, Beard Deer don't make the same mistake as he did. Haha, great reference I love it! Now I'm just picturing Beard Deer and Bearicorn in that scene, man editor out there should get on this.**

 **I never mind, I enjoy answering people's questions, so ask away!**

 **I based it a bit off of RWBY's Semblance to be honest. If you haven't seen this, then Traits vary from person to person. They are more based on personality and can surface at an early age as personalities begin to develop and grow. So for example, Marco's craving for knowledge and ability to adapt to most situations gave him the ability of a heightened learning process. Daisy and Violet's overactive imaginations and shared connection gave them theirs, so on and ectera. They can however be passed down genetically in certain families. Case and point the Butterfly's. I haven't gone into it yet, but Star's family Trait is that they can all wield the wand. In any other's hands it can't be activated or used but the Butterfly's can. This is why they are essentially the rulers because of this ability or why in previous chapters someone is able to hold the wand for a minute without it going crazy and corrupting them or whatever. It's just a fancy stick in their hands. I plan on going more into this in a later chapter but I don't mind sharing this information with you since you asked.**

 **Um, no probably not. It is gonna be kept pretty vague actually. It happened so far back in the past that no one really resents it anymore and it was more just so that it was explained why Earth and Mewni are such close allies. I liked the idea of a complicated past between the two worlds but I probably won't go into more detail than what I gave, sorry.**

 **Thank you, I appreciate that! I passed so that is a big load off my mind! And it is so nice to hear you like my other stories!**

 **Starco4everr- Thanks!**

 **Next update: 2 weeks**


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